SGA Minutes for 8 September 2008

IUP-Speak Up! Forum Transcript
Questions raised by students (navigate directly to the question you are interested in or browse all the questions raised):

8:30pm- Student Government Association president Jessica Carson and vice president Josh Moss introduce the panel of guests. Jess and Josh will act as the moderators of this discussion.

Dr. Harvey Holtz is a professor of sociology at IUP. He is the chair of the department. He has acted as the advisor for the NAACP and has worked with GLBT, feminism, and more generally, labor groups. Dr. Holtz wants to help the students organize a broad movement in order for the students to have the power to take charge and not have to ask for anything, but have the power to demand things that are in the students’ interests.

Dr. Rhonda Luckey is the Vice President of Student Affairs. She wants to thank the NAACP and SGA for hosting the forum tonight and she is excited to hear the feedback from the students. She is interested in looking for solutions that are in the students’ best interest and to further support student success here at IUP. She is looking to maintain a healthy academic as well as social environment at IUP.

Bill Montgomery is the Director of Safety and Law Enforcement at IUP. Please feel free to contact him if you have any concerns about safety issues or related issues on campus.

Mile Lemasters is the Director of Housing and Residence Life and the Associate Dean of Students. If there are any questions or concerns please email him.

Malinda Cowles is the Associate Director of the Center for Health and Well-Being. They are now located in the Suites on Maple along with the Pechan Health Center, psychological and counseling services, as well as the Haven Project. Please also fell free to email her if there are any concerns or questions.

Justin Williams is the president of the NAACP chapter at IUP. Justin strongly implores all students to voice their opinions and SPEAK UP!

Kate Linder is the SGA advisor as well as the Associte Dean of Student Life and Community Engagement. She is willing to get together with students to help find solutions to problems that students are having.

Chad Buckwalter is the student representative on the Board of Trustees. Chad will be graduating in May and asks anyone who is interested to apply for the position. It is a great way for a student to learn and understand the administration and how it works.

Jimmy Myers works in the office of the president. He is the director of the office of Social Equity and Civic Engagement here at IUP. In this office, he monitors affirmative action compliance. Also if one is facing discrimination or experiencing harassment on campus, he/she can come to this office for redress. This office is the main diversity office on campus and also involves civic engagement.

Dr. Robert Davies is the vice president of University Relations on campus. He also serves on the Foundation for IUP. As the vice president of University Relations, he tries to bring in resources to the campus for the students, such as scholarships. He also deals with alumni relations as well as marketing and communication.

Dr. David Myers is the Vice-provost of research and the dean of graduate studies.

Dr. Susan Boser is the interim Associate Provost for academic programs and planning. She is involved in all things academic and works with faculty on curriculum and also distance education.

In the audience is Terry Appolonia who is the Dean of Students and Associate Vice Presdent for Student Development.

A: The new housing was done as a result of the feedback from the students. The housing altogether is approximately a $270 million project and in order to get the loans, IUP needs to have a revenue of at least 1.2 million dollars. Demand for the housing was made clear in marketing studies, so we tried to give the students what they were saying that they wanted. Also, students are not going to come to IUP if they do not have these types of residencies.

Answer: Elkin Hall, McCarthy Hall, and Whitmyre Hall for the Honors College Students will be maintained for another year. These will still be cheaper than the suites.

Answer: Student demand asked for items that were more expensive to be in the suites. The process included strong input from students through several surveys and the comments from students indicated that privacy was a big issue. Each phase of the housing change has been accompanied by student surveys. There was one that just went out a few weeks ago, and over 2500 replies were gathered in the last two weeks. The residence facilities were designed with the surveys as the basis and the survey specifically asked if the price was okay.

Follow Up: Will there be any way to accommodate those who can’t afford the housing on campus?

Answer: When the cost of living at college will go up, financial aid is aware and the financial aid package that student’s receive will increase with the price of housing.

Answer: All students receive an email in their I-mail account in Nov/Dec and Jan/Feb for the last three years.

Follow Up: Is the reason why IUP is conducting the housing revival due to the fact that IUP is trying to become a Division I school?

Answer: No, but McCarthy Hall, Elkin Hall, and Whitmyre Hall are still going to be up, and to be honest, most freshman want to live in the Suites. IUP has to accommodate 3800 to 4000 students living on campus.

Follow Up: What about the safety of these new suites? Many of us have been hearing and seeing that these suites are not built very well and we are concerned. Is IUP going to increase safety standards?

Answer: For the suites to have people living in them, they must meet the labor/industry standards. They are inspected and if they are passed, they are open to students. If students see something that is concerning however, please contact IUP.

Follow Up: Dr. Harvey Holtz wants to remind the students that IUP is part of the state system and wants to seethe market research that took place regarding the new housing. Also, what is the life-cycle of these buildings? Are they owned by the foundation for 30 yrs. And then to the state? If freshman are mandated to live on campus, maybe we don’t have to mandate it, or maybe look for more grants to help lower the cost for students. Dr. Holtz wants the students to come together as a movement. There is a movement called the CAS (Community Association of Students).

Q: There have been incidents in the past that have contained racial slurs. Five years ago, there was a facebook group that contained racial slurs in it, and most recently, a student’s car was vandalized and a racial slur was written on the car. What has the diversity council done about this issue?

A: The diversity Council is intended to be the eyes and ears of the president. It is not an active organization. There are 21 members on the council. Five faculty, five non-faculty, six students, and five borough members. The members of the council are appointed by the president. The council makes recommendations to the president. There is a proposal to change the council into a more functional group. We have to remember that some speech is protected by law. In 2005, there wasn’t an office to respond to these situations.

Follow Up: So Dr. Atwater chooses the people and chooses to accept or reject recommendations made by the council?

Follow Up: Why was there nothing written about this? About what IUP thinks about this. Why hasn’t anyone made a statement about this or denounce the behavior?

Answer: Dr. Holtz was the advisor of the NAACP when the incident on face book happened. The First Amendment protects hate speech. The president did not want to respond to it. Dr. Holtz is a member of the diversity council and he states that the president does not care about the recommendations that the diversity council gives him and that he won’t do anything about it. The president does not want us (the council) to act. The students need to organize themselves.

Second Answer: The president is concerned about discrimination in both race and gender. Also, to battle this discrimination, we don’t have to limit ourselves to the diversity council.

Response: This issue isn’t about race; this issue has to do with hate. Its nothing more than that. It shouldn’t happen and we shouldn’t have to go through the diversity council.

Follow Up: The race issue has not been handled well alt all. Why couldn’t thee at least been an email to all students about this incident?

A: It is a fee that is about $270/semester that supports organizations and things like the gym, etc.

Follow Up: So how do groups get funding? The Black Student League hasn’t been able to get funding from the co-op.

Answer: The co-op and the board allocates funding in the way that it sees fit. The co-op gives money to organizations on campus that are of benefit to all students. So apply again to the board. Just make sure that the organization will service all students. Don’t ask for travel or food expenses and not extremely large amounts of money. Organizations are all working together for the larger student benefit. The Co-op wants us to draw on its resources, they want to work with students. The Co-op board is meeting next Thursday at 3:30pm in the Knowlton Room in the HUB.

Q: Why did they stop the parties at the HUB? Just because one person gets into a fight doesn’t mean that the entire population should receive the negative consequences.

A: There is a student majority on the board of the co-op. The hub now closes at 12 and the board decided this because of safety issues. Six of Seven after hours parties at the HUB had police. We were under contract with the Borough Police regarding the after hours parties. The Police Chief came to the board and said that they could not honor their end of the contract because it was too much for them. The Board of Directors is meeting this Thursday at 3:30pm in the Knowlton Room in the HUB, if anyone wants to observe.

Follow Up: The programs after 12pm in the HUB have seen major amounts of violence. We needed to stop them to keep our community and students safe.

Follow Up: Why do the Indiana Borough Police have to be there, why can’t the campus police?

Answer: The HUB is not owned by the campus. It is an off-campus facility that belongs to the borough.

Follow Up:: Then why if we are off campus and we get in trouble with Indiana Borough Police, does IUP still hold us responsible?

Answer: just because you are a student does not mean that you are not a citizen of the campus; therefore, if you break a law, it is an IUP issue.

Follow Up: When the HUB closes at 12pm, more students go off campus to parties, and thus, may get into more danger than if they were on campus. Why can’t we use Zink Hall or the Field house?

Response: There is a high correlation between after hours parties and violence, to keep the community safe, we can’t do it. Email Kate Linder about this issue if you want to talk about it in more depth. The students and faculty need to work together on this issue for any solution to be made.

A: You must be studying abroad, student teaching, living a certain amount of miles away from campus, etc. There are about eight reasons as to getting exempt from the fee. If you fall into any of these categories, go to co-op office in the HUB and talk to them about it.

Q: IUP has been experiencing larger class sizes and professors have been given heavier work loads. Why is this happening and what is IUP trying to do about it?

A: The truth is that this is happening. The faculty and administration are concerned. We get our money from the state legislature and tuition, and unfortunately, it just isn’t enough. We have been making reductions, and although academics is the last resort, we have had to make substantial reductions in our academic areas. There is a limit to what the Provost Office can do.

Follow Up: This is not out of the students’ control. The students need to organize themselves to fight this.

Follow Up: What about students who can’t get into classes that they need for their major?

Answer: Punxsy is a transitional campus to get students tied in to an educational setting and to further their academic success.

Q: In Lawrence Hall, there has been a Peeping Tom who has been looking at girls in the bathroom, in their rooms, etc. This was reported and after a few weeks, it was finally mentioned to everyone in the building. Are the campus police understaffed and how are we supposed to feel safe?

A: Bill Montgomery will have to look at the case in particular. If he was found, their would have been a news release. If something happens, report it immediately, don’t wait.

Follow Up: This is why we established the Haven Project. The Haven Project is a place for people to come and talk about harassment and abuse. If you need someone to talk to, contact Haven.

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