Meeting Minutes October 10, 2019

Northern Essex Community College Student Government Association

Meeting called to order by President, Samantha Cook.
Date | Time: 10/10/2019, 4:01 PM. Total Voting Members : 10. Quorum : Yes.

Roll Call

Secretary, Chloe Upham conducted the roll call. The following individuals were present:

Executive Board Attendance

• President: Samantha Cook
• Vice President of the Haverhill Campus: Courtney Morin
• Vice President of the Lawrence Campus: Hannah Benning
• Secretary: Chloe Upham
• Programming Chair of the Lawrence Campus: Scarlette Santos
• Programming Chair of the Haverhill Campus: (Vacant)
• Marketing Chair: (Vacant)
• Parliamentarian: Sofia Fedele

General Member Attendance

• Joe Paquin
• Keyla Santos
• Peter Rodriguez
• Victor Van

Non-Voting Board Attendance

4

Guests In Attendance

• Advisor: Stephanie Haskell
• Civic Engagement & Learning-Service Center: Janel D’Agata Lynch
• Executive Committee Student Representative: Matt Day

The following members were absent:

• Mehali Patel

Guests

Janel D’Agata Lynch

1. Lynch wants students to be engaged and informed regarding the 2020 U.S. Elections.
2. NECC has been participating in a voting study, NSLVE, being conducted by Tufts University. It was reported that for
   the midterm elections in 2014, 21.8% of students voted, whereas in 2018, 31.8% of students voted.
3. NECC has been found to have a relatively high voting rate, mostly because it is comprised more of a mixed age group
   of students.
4. NECC is participating in the “All-in Democracy Challenge”, which is working to try to increase student voting rates.
   Although there is currently a campus wide committee that works with election and voting related issues, Lynch would
   like to see the committee expand to:
   1. Develop and implement action plans
   2. Continue to participate in the studies
   3. Share action plans with the democracy challenge
   4. Communicate information/statistics with the whole campus
5. On October 28th at 12:30pm in A112, there will be a meeting where the committee is going to gauge student
   representation and plan further for how often they will meet.
6. Their main goal is to help students both understand and stay informed about current issues, so that they can further
   help students narrow down candidates that will target these issues. They want students to feel comfortable and
   confident when they go to vote.

Matt Day

1. The Executive Committee met on October 9th and discussed:
   1. Restructuring the flow and procedures of the All College Assembly in order to improve it.
   2. Potentially using Blackboard as a communication tool between committees.
   3. They voted and decided that for the remainder of the academic year, their main initiatives are public safety
      and heading the shuttle bus and parking lot issues on both campuses.
   4. Deb Crafts and Mike McCarthy presented a proposal to the Executive Committee that included:
      1. NECC was approved on October 1st, 2018 to implement a police department on campus, not to be
         confused with the police academy.
      2. Deb Crafts would like to hire five certified police officers:
         1. One Second-in-Command in Lawrence
         2. Two trained officers on Lawrence campus
         3. Two trained officers on Haverhill campus
      3. An overall upgrade in security technology including replacing security cameras and creating a
         control center in C112.
      4. Replace keys with cards to swipe, ideally for offices, computer labs, classrooms with expensive
         equipment, etc.
   5. Parking in the Amesbury lot in Lawrence was causing some issues because employees from MassHire, who
      had complications with their parking lot, were allowed to park in the Amesbury lot. This took away from
      student spots and caused issues with parking.
   6. According to NECC’s contract with MVRTA, the shuttles are supposed to have half hour loops. However,
      Hannah Benning reported that MVRTA is currently uncomfortable driving on the highway from Lawrence to
      Haverhill, which has caused delays in times.
2. Matt wants to keep open communication with SGA and help out with any concerns or information that they may need
   in the future.

Student Forum

1. Abbey Tannatt:

   1. The theater department is looking for help regarding their upcoming show.
   2. The first show date is November 7th, 2019.

2. Jonathan Britez:

   1. Brought to SGa’s attention that there is no nursing station on campus.
   2. It was clarified that there used to be one, but due to budgetary reasons and since the amount of medical
      equipment used was minimal, that it was removed. Additionally, students are constantly arriving and leaving
      the campus, so there is less chance of someone needing medical attention.
   3. SGA will be looking into whether or not there are epipens accessible on campus.
   4. The smart meals in the Knight’s Nook are not adequately stocked for students with allergies. SGA believes
      that the individuals who run the smart meals were looking into making accommodations.

Approval of Minutes

Motion to approve the minutes from the 10/03/2019 meeting.

Moved by : Chloe Upham Seconded by : Joe Paquin

Voting results : Unanimous Motion Passes

Minutes for all meetings are posted on Blackboard.

Executive Committee Reports

President: Samantha Cook

1. There is a waitlist for the mental health first aid training event. Karen is trying to put SGA members that are
   interested onto the waitlist for registering.
2. Advocacy day is on October 23rd. Currently, Joe, Courtney, and Sofia are signed up. This is that last reminder for
   Advocacy day because Janel D’Agata Lynch is moving forward to plan transportation and the logistics of the trip.
3. Joe and Courtney will be speaking at the OER Legislative round table meeting on October 18th.
4. If SGA members have not received an email regarding two on one meetings, you will be getting one soon. Samantha
   and Stephanie want to touch base with all members.

Vice President of the Haverhill Campus: Courtney Morin

1. There is a link in the Zipped Up group chat for Advocacy day.

Vice President of the Lawrence Campus: Hannah Benning

1. The SGA office in Lawrence has a peanut butter and jelly station that SGA can start promoting to Lawrence students.
2. Hannah will be addressing the situation on student printing later in the meeting.

Treasurer: Mehali Patel

1. ABSENT

Secretary: Chloe Upham

1. Chloe drafted a blast email to be sent out to students regarding the remaining open positions in SGA and to
   congratulate the newly elected SGA members.

Programming Chair of Lawrence: Scarlette Santos

1. Scarlette was newly elected, so she did not have a report for this meeting.

Programming Chair of Haverhill

VACANT

Marketing Chair

VACANT

Parliamentarian: Sofia Fedele

1. Sofia attended the Constitution committee meeting.
2. At the Executive Board meeting on 9/30/19, she brought up the idea of a greener campus initiative.

Committee Reports

Constitution Committee

1. Current topics being discussed regarding elections:
   1. Regular elections versus special elections.
   2. When to have elections during the school year.
   3. “Acting” position versus an elected position.
2. They will be figuring out a time that works for more members to join.

Finance Committee

1. Treasurer is absent.
2. SGA needs to start purchasing items for fundraisers, both offices, etc.
3. Deadline for the yearly budget is next week.
4. Samantha delegates to anyone in the finance committee to create a finance committee group chat.

Tabled Business

1. Student Lounge
   1. Hannah is in the process of responding to emails regarding the lounge.
   2.  If SGA wants to create a sign to advertise the student lounge, they would need to create a proposal
      to present to Dr. Mezquita. Hannah will be working on the proposal after the meeting.
2. Halloween Extravaganza
   1. Hannah will be posting the budget for Halloween decorations by the next meeting.
   2. Halloween Extravaganza event- October 31st, more details to come.
   3. There should not be a Student Government meeting on October 31st. Motion introduced by Sofia Fedele. Vote
      was 6-1 in favor, motion passed.
   4. SGA members are welcome to bring their own decorations from home to decorate both offices.
3. Transportation/Public Safety
   1. Mike McCarthy will be coming to an SGA meeting with a presentation on public safety. This meeting will be
      advertised as an open forum to students.
   2. Hannah received a complaint from a faculty member:
      1. On October 10th, at 8:10am, the shuttle from Lawrence to Haverhill was severely crowded. Students
         were sitting on the ground, in the aisles, and on the stairs. Some students with disabilities that were
         on this shuttle had a hard time dealing with this commotion as well as trying to maneuver around the
         shuttle. SGA will be pursuing this transportation safety issue.
   3. Samantha was in contact with Sheila Muller via email and asked Muller if there was recorded data of how
      many students are taking the shuttles. Although this number is being kept track of, it is unsure if the number
      of students who can’t take the shuttle, because it is full, is being documented.
   4. Issues discussed regarding the shuttles:
      1. Shuttles are small when compared to the number of students who need them.
      2. The alternatives if a student cannot get on a shuttle is to either wait for the next one or pay for an
         Uber/Lyft ride.
      3. Students who rely on both the shuttle and the train are having to walk home if they cannot fit on the
         shuttle.
      4. Students are not being required to show their NECC ID to take the shuttle.
   5. Hannah Benning moves to form a transportation committee. Vote was 6-1 in favor, the motion passed.
      1. Transportation Committee members:
         1. Peter
         2. Sofia
         3. Joe
         4. Samanta
         5. Courtney
         6. Victor
         7. Chloe
         8. Scarlette
         9. Keyla
         10. Rosiellis Herrera Berroa
         11. Jonathan Britez
         12. Abbey Tannatt
         13. Matt Day

New Business

1. CCSLA

   1. SGA has been invited to return. CCSLA is a conference where community colleges across the state
      come together to talk about common issues, attend workshops, and learn about various
      opportunities.
   2. For more information, contact Joe Paquin or Courtney Morin.
   3. Stephanie noted that the finance committee needs to discuss if there is money in the budget for SGA
      to attend.

2. Haverhill Class Gift

   1. At E-board meeting, Sofia mentioned a greener campus.
   2. SGA discussed placing a garden on campus. However, this addition would require a long term plan
      with a process in place for someone to sustain it.
   3. SGA is looking into placing compost bins around campus.
   4. Courtney will begin working on surveys for this matter.
   5. SGA has a maximum amount of $2,000 to spend on the Haverhill class gift.

3. Student Affairs Committee

   1. Hannah reported that Mike Hern, the dean of the Library Services, attended the recent SAC meeting,
      where he came to them with a proposal for students to pay for printing. There has been reports that
      students are using the printers excessively, and the library does not have an adequate amount of
      money in the budget to sustain this. It was proposed that students should be given a certain amount
      of pages to print for free, and once they surpass that amount they will be charged.
   2. SGA will be reaching out to Mike Hern to receive more information and clarification about this
      proposal.

4. Student Advisory Council

   1. This was created to have all colleges in Massachusetts to speak about different issues that affect
      colleges at a statewide level.
   2. The main topics discussed at this year’s meeting were:
      1. OER
      2. Every Voice Coalition (Red Letter Campaign)
      3. Equity from higher education
   3. Courtney will be sending out more information to SGA about this event.

5. Agenda

   1. Samantha created a new format of the agenda for SGA meetings.
   2. A discussion was held regarding any changes made or suggestions:
      1. The open forum section will be placed in the beginning.
      2. The executive, advisor, and trustee reports were combined.
      3. Last names of SGA members should be written on the new agendas.

Advisors Report

1. There are two student surveys that have been sent out, which are a great way for all students to share their
   opinions.
2. There are about 1,800 students currently enrolled in the Navigate app.
3. There will be exciting changes to the Dimitry building on the Lawrence campus, coming up this semester.
4. The computer software “Zoom” records SGA’s Executive Board meetings.

Trustee Report

1. Courtney has nothing to report at this time.

Announcements

1. NECHE Self Study comments are due on October 15th.
2. The Student Center front entrance construction is being put on hold until the spring semester due to
   upcoming weather.

Next Meeting / Adjournment

The next SGA meeting will be on Thursday, October 17th at 4:00 P.M. in Haverhill, SC 106 & in Lawrence in Dimitry
143

Motion to adjourn was made at 5:32 P.M. and was passed 5-0 in favor.