CSSA Minutes: December 8, 2001

San José State University, Crowne Plaza Hotel
CSSA Board of Directors Meeting
December 8, 2001, 3:30 - 5:30 pm

CALL TO ORDER 3:32 pm, Chair Robert Garcia.
ROLL CALL Present: Bakersfield, Chico, Dominguez Hills, Fresno, Fullerton, Hayward, Humboldt, Long Beach, Los Angeles, California Maritime Academy, Monterey Bay, Pomona, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, San Marcos, Sonoma, Stanislaus.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Changes: Motion by Sacramento to amend the agenda to reflect 1) an action item at V. Committee Reports B) Legislative Affairs: approval of a resolution, "California State Student Association Resolution: A Position in Opposition to Student Fee Increases"; and 2) Deletion at V.E) 4), an information item, "Review of Nominating committee and Possible Restructuring." Second, San Diego. PASSED. Approval of Agenda, Dominguez Hills; second, Stanislaus. PASSED
Chair Robert Garcia said tomorrow the Board will make a big decision after interviewing candidates for the position of executive director. He addressed rumors that have sprung up in the wake of an email reporting the Chancellor's remarks on CMS on Wednesday, December 5th. Dr. Reed conducts informal informational talks on an approximately quarterly basis; everyone who works at the Chancellor's Office is invited. Joan Hemphill reported that the Chancellor ended by alluding to the willingness of the students to address the possibility of student fee increases in light of the hard economic times facing the state and the CSU. Robert stated, to the contrary, that in their meeting with the Chancellor on the Monday before the last Board of Trustees meeting, CSSA executives made very clear CSSA's opposition to any increase in student fees. Robert said there was no other meeting with the Chancellor. Ronda Newt-Scott wanted to know how she could be certain that CSSA executives had not indicated otherwise. Haleemon Anderson said CSSA executives worded their stance so as to be flexible. Trustee Dan Cartwright wondered if the Chancellor understands CSSA's position on student fees. He and Robert advised a clear statement in writing. Ron asked who Joan is working for, CSSA or the Chancellor's Office, citing the email as a second [betrayal?], after the CFA paper. Dan said he had heard the Chancellor make statements similar to those reported. Brandon noted the miscommunication pointed to the need for a clear resolution.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER 2001, Stanislaus; second, Sacramento. PASSED.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
1. University Affairs. Chair Haleemon Anderson reported on planks of the policy agenda: there should be a sustainability resolution next month, as well as CSU Pride and Remediation components. Next month's conference will also include an open forum on issues to be entertained by University Affairs.
2. Legislative Affairs. Chair Brandon Kline urged Board members to read Senate Bill 1214, which will be heard soon. An action plan on the policy agenda with attendant dates will be presented at next month's conference. Brandon reported on the conference call on student fees organized by Cruz Bustamonte yesterday. Brandon met yesterday with a UC Student Association member re a joint document on student fees, envisioned as being supported by all 3 institutions of higher education in the state. Motion to approve the draft, Sacramento; second, San Diego. A point of order was that there were insufficient copies for everyone's review. Robert tabled discussion while copies were being made.
3. Multi Cultural Caucus. Speaker Natoya Blaylock said the Caucus broke into work groups earlier today and discussed their charge for the year. It also had a reparations round table discussion. No action came out of the caucus.
4. CHESS. Chair Brandon Kline said the committee comprises members from Los Angeles, Hayward, Fullerton, Chico, Imperial Valley, Sacramento and Stanislaus. No vote is needed to keep the registration fee at $100. The committee voted to accept the middle of the 3 logos, with changes: make "CHESS" font fatter, shrink "VII" and use cheerier, brighter colors. Move to accept logo with changes stated, Sacramento; second, Los Angeles. PASSED. There will be no more than 6 complimentary dinners: the Chancellor and his guest, + the 2 legislators being honored and their guests. Emily voiced the ramifications of leaving the fee the same: $15,000 to raise in 2-1/2 months. CSSA has unallocated funds, but those are earmarked for debt retirement. The proposed increase, $10-11, would have left only $11,000 to raise. Humboldt, Elexis Mayer, said the idea was to keep the event grassroots, as cheap as possible. Emily said the longest we can take to pay off CSSA debt is 3 years; she recommends repayment from unallocated funds. San Diego, Priscilla Ocean, inquired about program ads and was told they go for $500. Apparently they haven't been big sellers in the past, but no one has put much effort into them, either. Motion to approve the committee's recommendations, San Diego; second, Sacramento. PASSED.
5. Initial Review Board. Chair Emily Foster reported that slight changes were made to the application packet. A further change will be to remove the Rules of Conduct memo. Motion to approve application packet, Los Angeles; second, Dominguez Hills. PASSED. As for redactions to the applications, the committee wants to remove Social Security numbers only, to treat the applications more as a hiring committee would. Humboldt, Elexis Mayer, said a contract for committee members was discussed; the committee will behave professionally. Pomona, Joe Salas, noted that when he sat on 2 like campus committees, only Social Security numbers were redacted. San Francisco, Jerl Laws, noted that bias is a strong force. Emily recounted that in past years all kinds of stuff was blacked out-any identifiers on letters of recommendation, resumes, cover letters. It didn't prevent leaks as people on the IRB got the information from staff. Emily said that the evaluation sheet addressed the kind of biases operating last year. Elexis said the biggest concern is that bias not be shown in favor of CSSA Board members, and that identifiers will be apparent from the essays. San Diego, Priscilla Ocen and Ron Williams, favored just redacting Social Security numbers. Motion to approve redaction of Social Security numbers only on applications for Student Trustee, Los Angeles; second, Sacramento. PASSED. Motion to schedule interviews for Friday, April 5 all day at Humboldt, Stanislaus; second, Sacramento. PASSED. Emily noted that the IRB approved the in-person and application evaluation sheets, with changes; those aren't shared with the Board as they give inside information on criteria. Motion to approve the flyer, Stanislaus; second, San Diego. PASSED. Emily explained that on the rules of conduct memo, within the group of italicized paragraphs, the 2nd sentence of the 1st paragraph was added to eliminate the disgruntlement factor in voting. Discussion then returned to:
6. Legislative Affairs. The resolution was passed in committee on an 8 to 7 vote. San Luis Obispo, Angie Hacker, argued that while work on the resolution was fast and good, since the document will go also to UC and CalSACC and CSSA wants to be proud of it, its language should be strengthened and unified. Motion to postpone vote on the document until tomorrow, December 9, 2001, San Diego; second, Chico. In response to Trustee Dan Cartwright's question as to whether the only objections in committee were to verbiage, San Francisco, Ronda Newt-Scott said there were ideological objections, too. Stanislaus, LaLisha Norton, asked how the joint editing of the document works. Brandon responded CSSA would approve the document; UC and the CalSACC will take the same document to their boards. UC next meets in January and, after that, CalSACC. San Francisco, Bruce asked if the resolution were urgent. Move to call previous question, San Diego; second, Sacramento. PASSED. Motion to postpone voting until 12/9/01 PASSED.
RECALL ELECTION FOR POSITION OF EXTERNAL VICE CHAIR
John Charter, Monterey Bay, reported that Christine Svendsen has resigned from the position of External Vice Chair. Motion to accept the resignation, San Diego; second, Sacramento. PASSED.
ELECTION OF NEW EXTERNAL VICE CHAIR
San Diego moved to nominate Jerl Laws for the position of External Vice Chair; second, Sacramento. San Bernardo moved to nominate Joe Salas; second, Pomona. San José moved the nomination of Dante Gomez; second, Sacramento. Sacramento moved the nomination of Dan Bardenhagen; second, San Marcos. Dan withdrew his name. San Diego moved to close nominations; second, Los Angeles. PASSED. Robert said the candidates had decided to stay in the room for speeches, withdraw during discussion and return for the votes. All campuses, including nonpaying, can vote. The candidate with the most votes wins [this was later amended: if there is no majority on the 1st vote, there will be a runoff [between the 2 candidates with the most votes].
Roll Call: Present: Bakersfield, Chico, Dominguez Hills, Fresno, Fullerton, Hayward, Humboldt, Long Beach, Los Angeles, California Maritime Academy, Monterey Bay, Pomona, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Francisco, San José, San Luis Obispo, San Marcos, Sonoma, Stanislaus (San Diego, late).
Jerl Laws. Jerl said he was honored to be a participant, thrilled to be a candidate and was eager to help and learn. He believes student representation is essential. He said Emily is doing the work of 2 executives, that he has the time to relieve her of one of those jobs. He does have the time; CSSA is his AS charge. When asked what within CSSA needs to improve, Jerl said communication. Pomona, Joe Salas, asked what Jerl would contribute; Jerl responded he can deal with egos. San Francisco asked if he could separate the function of EVC from his San Francisco charge; he responded he could, that integrity is a big issue for him. He was a Boy Scout and a Scoutmaster. Los Angeles asked about his experience working on newsletters. He said he works on the CSSA newsletter for San Francisco, worked on the CalPIRG newsletter and has done research for a [journalism organization?]. Imperial Valley asked how he envisions himself; he responded he's here to help and be helped. San Bernardino asked the quality that put him first; he responded at first none specifically, then said honesty, integrity. Jerl said he could attend Board of Trustee meetings and meetings with Chancellor Reed that precede those meetings, that time would not be an issue. Sacramento asked what character traits he could improve; he responded sometimes he's too radical, headstrong. Jerl is a senior political science major/criminal justic minor who will graduate this summer.

Joe Salas. As a lifeguard, Joe has to be able to communicate; he also frequently addresses letters to the editor. He's a good team player and worthy of fiduciary responsibility. He would like to work on public relations for CSSA and to expand its on-line presence by creating more links to more websites. His writing is concise and good. It's more important than ever that there be good representation on statewide committees. He believes in accountability. In response to Humboldt's question whether he has time to carry out EVC duties, Joe said he's carrying 12 units, works for his ASI and has no other employment. In response to Los Angeles' questions about his news writing, he stated he has written editorials but not news releases. Re what he can contribute, Joe said he had 1-1/2 years experience with CSSA; he's also worked on a financial aid committee and with deans. He will graduate in the spring. He said he works well with CSSA executives. He will be able to help the executives as he has fewer commitments and can give 100 percent: school and CSSA would be his first priorities. His vision of the job is to improve communications with CSSA's constituents. He is prepared for the EVC position having worked within so many different student organizations. As a volunteer he's experienced lots of different personalities and paradigms. If elected he would work with staff to reach out to newspapers and public affairs officers. Joe shared with his ASI that he would be a candidate for this position and thinks he has his president's blessing.
Dante Gomez. This is an important position and these are critical times, especially given the budget crisis. Dante has a passion for student advocacy and is on his AS board. He's a senior and wants to be a lawyer. He has participated in all the recent initial staff searches. He is accessible to Board of Trustee meetings, as he lives 15 minutes from the Chancellor's Office. He would like to improve CSSA communications and has had experience developing websites and newsletters. He is honest and a creative thinker. He does have time to take on the responsibility. He will take 3 classes in the spring and will resign from some other commitments. He said he does have newsletter skills. He would like to help on any team initiatives.

Discussion regarding the candidates.

Election: Jerl 5 (Fresno, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Marcos, Sonoma); Joe 7 (Chico, Hayward, Humboldt, Pomona, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo); Dante 8 (Bakersfield, Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, California Maritime Academy, Monterey Bay, Sacramento, San José, Stanislaus). Runoff between Joe and Dante: Joe 10 (Chico, Hayward, Humboldt, Pomona, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Marcos, Sonoma); Dante 9 (Bakersfield, Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, Los Angeles, California Maritime Academy, Monterey Bay, Sacramento, San José, Stanislaus); Fresno abstained. Joe Salas was elected External Vice Chair.
REPORT OF OFFICE OF THE CHANCELLOR LIAISONS
1. Alan Liebrecht, CSU Liaison to CSSA. No report; Alan had to leave this meeting before it ended.
2. Christy Zamani, Student Relations. No report.
REPORT OF STUDENT TRUSTEES
Dan Cartwright. Dan has no report today but would like to introduce the new second Student Trustee, Erene Thomas.

Erene Thomas. Erene is delighted to be here and looks forward to a great two years as Student Trustee.
STAFF REPORTS (Written Only)
None submitted.
SYSTEMWIDE COMMITTEE REPORTS (Written Only)
OFFICER REPORTS (Written Only)
EXECUTIVE REPORTS
Robert Garcia, Chair. CSSA is putting together an intersegmental opposition to student fees increases. The opposition will include press releases; rallies; letters to the Trustees, the Chancellor and his staff and to legislators. Within the next month Robert will meet with Trustee Chair Laurence Gould. Laura Kerr and Brandon Kline are working on strategies to oppose student fee increases. Natoya Blaylock and Robert did a presentation at the Academic Senate Fall (Diversity) Conference that received high marks. The CSU Pride Clinic held December 1st at the Long Beach campus was a great success. Neither Internal Vice Chair Emily Foster, External Vice Chair Joe Salas nor University Affairs Chair Haleemon Anderson had reports. Legislative Affairs Chair Brandon Kline said he was happy with his committee's direction. Multi Cultural Caucus Speaker Natoya Blaylock reported that the presentation she and Laura Kerr did at the Northwest Student Leadership Conference was a success.
CLOSING COMMENTS
San Marcos, Joycelyn Brown distributed a registration/hotel sheet for the January conference at San Marcos. Fresno, Mary Lee McGough, said she was impressed with San Bernardino's letter writing campaign to the governor opposing student fee increases. San Francisco, Bruce, spoke of the importance of redacting information on Student Trustee applications-because there are so few applications, where they come from is generally obvious. He also said that under the Romero Act more detail re action items is required on CSSA agendas.

Adjournment 6:30 pm, Los Angeles; second, San José. PASSED.