Work Session Meeting Minutes - Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
By Matthew Lord | November 4, 2008
Student Administrative Council
Work Session Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, November 04th, 2008
Attendees: Jeffrey Vasquez, Janet Hoppe-Leonard, Brandin Watson, Jasmine Tolle, Alexis Baranov, Matthew Lord
In Absence: Cayla Poznanovich
Start Time: 01:45pm
End Time: 03:15pm
SUMMARY
Again we iterated that we will try to keep the meeting time to a limit. For this meeting: 1.5 hours Which we succeeded in doing.
We began our meeting with an overview of yesterday’s Strategic Planning Committee Meeting which was held in the ED building. We briefly discussed the questions we had and the fact that we had questions about the process in general. In recognizing this, we will work to foster confidence in the students in the cabinet who are working on other campus committees. Questions arise for a reason and we all should have the confidence to ask them especially in regards to the important decisions being made on these committees. We also discussed our methods of surveying students and how we use the information which we have gained through the survey process. Some items of note for our use when presenting such materials is to anticipate context of the presentation while maintaining a concise interpretation, as well as understanding the feedback which may be shared by those participating in the discussion which often follows such a presentation. It is also important for us to be able to back up our methodology in sharing that it is valid and this is why it’s valid.
Topics
Outlook
We identified the importance of using this program to have open contact contact and communication with the whole of Seattle Community Colleges District. We all still need to learn the uses of this system and make sure it is set up appropriately for our access. This will be a yearly training matter for members of the Student Administrative Council.
Reports
Regarding the Bill of Rights of students for the Student Transfer Work Group, their seemed to be some hesitation by private institutions to openly provide for a grievance or appeals process for students who transfer and feel their credits should be accepted. This may increase the workload of those involved in the transfer process, both students and school administration, though it is in the best interest of the students to have this as an option. The group is also working on a sheet which will include best tips and practices for students who are transferring. This paper could use a lot more information coming in from the student body. Brandin has been working heavily with this group and is in the planning stages of setting up a meeting with Alice and UW advisors.
Disability Services Survey / Focus Group
This focus group is meant to gather the current condition of students’ concerns and general feeling of disability services on campus. Rebecca has a list of students to contact and invite to this focus group and it will be open to all students for participation. Alexis, Jasmine, and Rebecca have created and revised the topics and questions for this event.
Student Center - Follow Up
The Student Center is part of a larger campus renovation and rejuvination project which has been in the planning stages for some time with a likely hood of breaking ground during the summer of 2009. After a brief discussion, it is apparent that at this time, we are not exactly sure of the specific uses the Student Center might allow for. We would like to gain a better understanding of this. At this point in time, we will be drafting some communication to be delivered at a future date. We wish to set up a committee for this if possible and allow for extra student involvement with the process, especially those who are or wish to be in the field of these types of architectural and institutional planning arenas. We need to set up guidelines and basic systems and structures for this committee. Also, it is planned that we will set up a meeting with Roy Flores and Marcy Miers to gain more understanding of the scope of this project and how it relates to our decision making process. We are also looking forward to a time line summary from Bruce and Monty with campus facilities. An important piece of this project is the budget as well as the business plan and model for the space which is being considered for the Student Center.
Committees - Tabled!
Tenure Review
We discussed the importance of students being actively involved in this process because of the manner in which decisions being made in this process may affect future students for the better part of thirty years. All of us in the council have some work to do in understanding this process more fully in order to learn how it is we may work to enhance it.
SAC Positions
This Thursday, November 6th, we will review the few applications we have and move forward from there.
Project Management / Tracking Reporting - Tabled!
Closing The Loop
We had a brief discussion about narrowing our focus to close the loop on some of the projects we have begun, by the end of Fall quarter. Identifying which projects are able to reach completion by this time and then completing them will allow us to focus in more on other items we have accepted, as well as focus on the committees which are an important part of why we are here.
In Closing, we briefly reviewed the course of this meeting to see how it went in keeping on target and within our allotted time. We identified the reality that while conducting meetings the style can take a number of forms. Those which were identified this round are: Reporting Information vs Identifying Action Items or: Informational vs Action Needed.
Action Items
- Follow up with Nancy about survey and other evening events in which we may better involve those students
- Explore current and potential issues with Outlook
- Set up mailing lists
- Student Cabinet mailing list - Cayla
- Email Bruce Keiser regarding the expectations of the SAC and subsequent committee for the proposed Student Center - Janet
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