2024-3-12 Student Government Association Senate Meeting Minutes

March 12, 2024
2:15 pm, Forum 3-130, Downtown Campus Room 200B, Zoom

In Attendance

Student Senators

  • Senator Mohamed Souhail
  • Senator Ashley Wrobeh
  • Senator Loritea Ellis
  • Senator Liam Krieger

Election Coordinator

  • Naz Barmak

President

  • Joseph Leichtner

Vice President of Governance

  • Angelo Romero

Vice President of Downtown

  • Mandie McGinnis

Treasurer

  • Zeynep Guney

Chief of Staff

  • Ivy Zin

Secretary of Governance

  • Alicia Crimmins

Student Trustee

  • Ana Santos

Office of Student Life

  • Advisor: Jodi Oriel
  • Faculty Advisor: Mark Sample

Visitors

  • Ginny Geer-Mentry – MCC Association
  • Rebecca Babcock – Faculty Senate
  • Mario Solis – IT Club
  • Michael Jacobs – Faculty
  • Kelsey Bright – Academic & Student Affairs
  • Gary Johnson – Academic & Student Affairs

Minutes

Call to Order (2:16 pm)

  1. Roll Call (see attendance above)
    Vice President of Governance Romero called for a roll call to start the senate meeting.
  2. Land Acknowledgement
  3. Approval of Minutes
    1. Vice President of Governance Romero called for a motion to approve the March 5, 2024 Student Government Association minutes.
    2. Senator Wrobeh so moved, seconded by Senator Krieger
    3. A vote was taken.
    4. Be it resolved, the Monroe Community College Student Government Association approves the March 5, 2024 minutes as written.

Speak to the Senate

  1. Michael Jacobs – Unlocking Opportunities
    Jacobs gave an overview of the proposed “Unlocking Opportunities” program, which is a plan to prioritize post-graduation success sponsored by the Aspen Institute and Community College Research Center. Three key points of this program include improving onboarding, specifically making sure students take gateway classes, ensuring sustained support, and helping advisors be the best they can be for students.

  2. Gary Johnson – Advising Redesign
    Johnson introduces plan to redesign how MCC advises its students to promote student success. To promote the desired outcome, this plan suggests requirements to have all students attend new student orientations and/or take a “first-year experience” course, such as COS. This plan places emphasis on onboarding students effectively, to confidently guide students to their desired futures. Lastly, they touched on the importance of sustained support through having one advisor during a student’s entire MCC experience. This entails an increase in advising staff.
  3. Kelsey Bright – Program Mapping Project
    Bright discusses the “Program Mapping Project” which covers particularly over 4 areas: onboarding, college website redesign, better transfer advising, and the actual act of mapping courses with students. All four areas encourage student success, especially in regard to graduating MCC on time, in the case where the student wants to transfer to another college.

Reports

  1. President Leichtner

    On 03/11/24 President Leichtner, Chief of Staff Zin, Secretary of Governance Crimmins, Athletic Senator Souhail, & Vice President of Governance Romero attended the Brighton Snack & Chat. This was a great opportunity to meet & connect with students, as well as advertise the Student Government Association. SGA also handed out eclipse glasses for the eclipse in April. President Leichtner also worked on & revised his report for the ELT meeting with the President.

  2. Vice President Romero

    On Saturday, March 2nd, the Vice President of Governance attended the Campus One80 retreat with Student Trustee Santos. There were many activities to relax and chill, as well as activities about ourselves where they would talk about themselves and how they felt at the moment through Lego builds. This was his first time attending one, and he had a blast and learned more about himself and others. On Monday, March 4th, Vice President of Governance Romero participated in the Board of Trustees’s meeting at the Downtown Campus with President Leichtner, Vice President of Downtown McGinnis, Treasurer Guney, Secretary of Governance Crimmins, Chief of Staff Zin, Student Life Advisor Oriel, and Faculty Advisor Sample. They watched as Student Trustee Santos and President Leichtner gave
    their report and talked about the Advocacy Day in Albany. On Tuesday, March 5th, Vice President of Governance Romero met with Anita Davis to learn more information and asked questions about health services so he could inform and answer questions about anything about health services. It was a great discussion, and he was glad to learn more about it. That same day, He had lunch with the MCC Foundation, President Leichtner, Athletic Senator Souhail, VP Greg Hinton, and VP and executive Director of the MCC Foundation Gretchen Wood. They had a great discussion and talked more about their Advocacy Day Trip.

  3. Vice President of Downtown McGinnis

    March 4th Vice President McGinnis attended the MCC Board of Trustee meeting along with Vice President Romero, Treasury Guney, and Secertary of Governance Crimmins in support of Trustee Santos and President Leichtner as they reported on the success of SUNY Advocacy Day in Albany, NY. Excellent job team on all our hard work and advocacy on behave of MCC and all community college. On Tuesday March 5th SGA’s election committee members met in preparation of the upcoming SGA (Student Government Association) Elections. Check out the Student Tribune and Campus Event tiles on MyMCC home page for up-to-date election information, including election workshops and information you will need to run for office. SGA is excited for the election season and wishes all candidates the best of luck. Upcoming Downtown Events: FYE Lunch & Craft, Relax with some craftmaking while enjoying grilled cheese. Please join FYE on the 3rd floor in Highfalls A 12-1pm on Wednesday March 13th. Monroe County DHS will visit Downtown on Wednesday March 13th, you can find them on the 2nd floor tabling area from 10 am- 1pm with information on SNAP, HEAP, safe sleep, child support, childcare subsidies, emergency & temporary assistance, and mental health resources.

  4. Treasurer Guney

    On Monday, March 4th, 2024, Treasurer Guney and Senator Krieger held the interview for Ky’Johnna Jamison. On Friday, March 8th, 2024, treasurer Guney drafted the resolution for the IT Club.

  5. Secretary of Governance Crimmins

    On March 4th, Secretary of Governance Crimmins, Vice President Romero, Vice President of Downtown McGinnis, Treasurer Guney, Chief of staff Zin, President Leichtner, and Advisors Jodi Oriel and Mark Sample attended the Board of Trustee’s meeting where Student Trustee Santos and President Leichtner gave reports. March 7th, Secretary of Governance Crimmins along with Vice President Romero and Faculty Advisor Sample interviewed Tehya Deisenroth to be a Clubs and Organizations Senator and it went very well. Lastly, Secretary of Governance Crimmins volunteered to set up and attend the Brighton Snack-n-Chat held on Monday the 11th from 11:30am-1pm. Thank you.

  6. Chief of Staff Zin

    On March 4th, Chief of Staff Zin attended the board of trustees meeting for the first time. President Leichtner gave the report as representing the Student Government Association. During the report, President Leichtner talked about SUNY Advocacy Day in Albany along with the video footage of
    Student Trustee Santos, Vice President of Governance Romero, Veteran Senator Krieger, and President Leichtner talking about advocating for more funding for community colleges.

  7. Health & Wellness Senator Wrobeh

    Hello everyone. This past week senator Wrobeh attended a lunch along with senator Santos, President Burt-Nanna, and the MCC foundation. We talked about many opportunities that MCC offers such as dual enrollment, and the unique optics program. Senator Wrobeh also drafted the resolution for the new public relations senator.

  8. Election Coordinator Barmak

    This past week Naz has been preparing for the upcoming election workshops. Together with the Election Committee comprising Ivy, Amanda, and Ana, Naz has focused on reviewing and summarizing the constitutions pertinent to the election process. This comprehensive understanding ensures smooth proceedings and adherence to the established guidelines. In addition to election preparations, Naz has dedicated time to crafting the President’s report, which will be happening today. She intends to provide an update on the progress of the elections, including details about the distribution of eclipse glasses to promote student involvement. Furthermore, Naz has taken on the responsibility of drafting a resolution for the IT Club’s LEGO Bot Battle scheduled for next month.

  9. Athletic Senator Souhail

    Athletic Relations Senator Souhail has no reports this week.

  10. Virtual Campus Senator Ellis

    Virtual Campus Senator Ellis has no report this week.

  11. Veterans Senator Krieger
    Veterans Senator Krieger has no report for this week.

New Business

  1. Action Items (requires a senate vote)
    1. Resolution for the Funding Request of $1500 for IT Club.

      Resolved, the Monroe Community College Student Government Association approved the funding request of $1500 to IT Club for the “Electronics Clinics” to educate
      students on the practical skills needed to breathe new life into outdated or discarded electronic devices, promoting sustainability and innovation.
      Vice President of Governance Romero called for a motion to approve the resolution.
      Senator Wrobeh so moved, second by Senator Souhail.
      Discussion: IT Club completed and met the standards and the requirements of the Student Government Association and Office of Student Life and Leadership.
      A vote was taken. The resolution passed.
      Be it resolved, the senate present and voting that the Student Government Association allocate $1,500 from their Contingency Account to IT Club at Monroe Community College.

    2. Resolution for the Funding Request of $720 for IT Club.
      Resolved, the Monroe Community College Student Government Association approved the funding request of $720 to IT Club for “LEGO Bot Battle” which will introduce students to robotics and programming in a fun interactive setting and learn skills involving teamwork.
      Vice President of Governance Romero called for a motion to approve the resolution.
      Senator Wrobeh so moved, second by Senator Souhail.
      Discussion: IT Club completed and met the standards and the requirements of the Student Government Association and Office of Student Life and Leadership.
      A vote was taken. The resolution passed.
      Be it resolved, the senate present and voting that the Student Government Association allocate $720 from their Contingency Account to IT Club at Monroe Community College.
    3. Resolution for the Appointment of Ky’Johnna Jamison for Public Relations Senator.
      Resolved, the Monroe Community College Student Government Association approved the appointment of Ky’Johnna Jamison as Public Relations Senator.
      Vice President of Governance Romero called for a motion to approve the resolution.
      Senator Wrobeh so moved, second by Senator Ellis.
      Discussion: Ky’Johnna Jamison met the standards and the requirements of the Student Government Association and Office of Student Life and Leadership.
      A vote was taken. The resolution passed.
      Be it resolved, the senate present and voting that the Student Government Association approve the appointment of Ky’Johnna Jamison as Public Relations Senator of SGA at Monroe Community College.
    4. Resolution for the Appointment of Tehya Deisenroth for Clubs and Organizations Senator.
      Resolved, the Monroe Community College Student Government Association approved the appointment of Tehya Deisenroth as Clubs and Organizations Senator.
      Vice President of Governance Romero called for a motion to approve the resolution.
      Senator Souhail so moved, second by Senator Ellis.
      Discussion: Tehya Deisenroth met the standards and the requirements of the Student Government Association and Office of Student Life and Leadership.
      A vote was taken. The resolution passed.
      Be it resolved, the senate present and voting that the Student Government Association approve the appointment of Tehya Deisenroth as Clubs and Organizations Senator of SGA at Monroe Community College.

Discussion Items

  1. There were no discussion items.

Old Business

  1. There was no old business.

Questions and Comments

  1. There were no questions or comments.

Adjournment

  1. Vice President of Governance Romero called for a motion for adjournment.

    Senator Souhail so moved, second by Senator Wrobeh
  2. Meeting was adjourned at 2:58 pm.

Executive Session

Respectfully submitted,
Alicia Crimmins
Secretary of Governance