Executive Board Meeting
September 8, 2004

            Meeting called to order by Gaurav Agarwal at 1737 hours, on September 8, 2004.  There were 8 members of the Board in Attendance. 

            First agenda was that all board members must explain their roles at the first regular meeting.  Accessibility of the board members from the representatives will also be discussed.  We will give discuss the plans for the year.  The largest events scheduled for the year is the Halloween Party, which is held at the Larrick Center on October 29, 2004 from 8pm-12pm.  The Winter Formal will be held at the Jefferson Hotel on February 18, 2004 and the times will be announced. 

            The next issue brought up was relating to the MP Campus SGA.  The Board of Visitors, which is the governing body of the VCU, appoints (1) Faculty Representative and (1) Student Representative.  Historically the student representative is the president of the MCV Campus SGA and the opposite year it’s the MP Campus SGA president.  There is however an interview selection amongst 4 students.  The MP Campus is working towards having (1) MCV Campus Rep. and (1) MP Campus Rep. The MP Campus is working towards having the representatives automatically placed on the BOV by default, The rationale is that the SGA President has already been elected by the student body.  Great discussion was carried out on this issue and the following recommendation has been made.  Mike Webb made a motion, seconded by Thomas Turner that current quorum vote for the following…  Voting was found 8:0 in favor of not endorsing an extra student representative on the BOV.  The MCV Campus SGA recommends that the BOV representative meet with the MP Campus SGA every 2 months.  The BOV representative will be receptive to the concerns of those on the MP Campus and in turn represent both campuses at the BOV meeting.  Also, the BOV only meets 4 times a year.  During those meetings there is very little opportunity for the student representative to bring up issues.  Issues must be approved prior to the meeting.  There is also a part of the meeting, which is open session in which, students can sit and watch the meeting. 

             Ashley Hall requested that the SGA endorse a Walk/Run on October 23, 2004.  The SGA will endorse it and allow her with the necessary resources to conduct the Walk/Run. 

             Tom Ridder spoke about doing a Spring Run involving MCV students.  A spring run may be difficult to do, as there are very few weekends in the spring to host a run.  This idea is on hold for now.  The board did decide that it would be in our best interest to reserve spots for the Race for the Cure.  Ashley suggested that we do Habitat for the Humanity again.  It’s much easier to book a weekend to do this and draws a large crowd. 

            Thomas Turner spoke about the Honor Council.  There were 4 honor cases since April.  Some related to cheating and variations thereof.  There was a hearing, which required rental of a secure room in Sanger Hall, along with Police and Security presence. 

            Rozelle Baltazar discussed the past welcome back social, which occurred on September 3, 2004 at the Bottom-line Tap and Grill.  The turnout was great in despite of the floods that destroyed some buildings in the Shockoe Bottom.  The Halloween Party is going to happen at the Larrick Center on October 29 from 8-12.  Tentative admission prices are 5$ for no cans and 2$ with cans.  The cans filled with food will be donated to the Richmond Metro Area. 

            Candy Reyes stated that the first yearbook shoot will happen on September 22, 2004 at the Tompkins McCaw Library.

            Mike and Gaurav are finalizing this year’s budget.  If you need to have the SGA purchase anything for your position please let Mike know.  Mike is also obtaining signing privileges to access the SGA Account. 

             I asked the Board if they would like me to set up blackboard for the SGA Executive Board.  I could post minutes, reminders, announcements, and other discussion boards to ease the communication amongst members.  We found out that not everyone accesses blackboard.  We decided that it’s not in our best interest to sign the SGA onto Blackboard.  I also asked the board how they felt about transferring the Geocities MCV SGA website over to the VCU web page.  After the discussions, we decided that this is in our best interest to obtain room on the main VCU web page.  During the transition, I will run a link from the VCU web page to the Geocities web page (this is the way it is currently) and have SGA website run from the VCU server simultaneously during the transition phase.  With senior students accustomed to the old website, there will need to be some transition time for them to get accustomed to the new website pathway. 

            We also discussed with Dr. Young our expectations for him as Dean of Student Affairs.  The board would like him to alert us when there are issues arising through out the campus that we should be aware of.  We would also like to hear about his past experience in NJ and NY in order to gain some ideas or thoughts about having separate campuses.  In return, Dr. Young, would like to open new ways to involve the whole campus.  Dr. Young is very interested in being a facilitator in our organization to make progress with our organization.  We are all looking forward to working with him this year.                

            Meeting adjourned by President Agarwal at 1830 hours.