Abby Bergren Student Association Senate Meeting #1 - GW Student ...

Abby Bergren 

Executive Vice President 

Chairperson of the Senate 

 

Student Association Senate Meeting #1 

Monday, September 10, 2012 

Amphitheater, 9pm 

Senators 

Senate President Pro-‐ 

Tempore 

Michael Amesquita 

U-‐At-‐Large 

Elizabeth Kennedy 

Hugo Scheckter 

G-‐At-‐Large 

James Bonneau 

Jake Chervinsky 

CCAS-‐U 

Markus Batchelor 

Anthony Bucci III 

Daniel Egel-‐Weiss 

Omeed Firouzi 

Nick Gumas 

Ian Shetron 

CCAS-‐G 

Cara Bumgardner 

Amanda Castroverde 

Mike Naple 

SMHS-‐U 

VACANT 

SMHS-‐G 

Bob Kickish 

Jordan Werner 

Law School 

Elizabeth Barnes 

Meredith Dempsey 

Joe Yarbough 

GSEHD 

VACANT 

SEAS-‐U 

Neil Forquer 

SEAS-‐G 

Will Rone 

ESIA-‐U 

Michael Morgan 

Ross Rattanasena 

Alicia Rose 

ESIA-‐G 

Jonathan Kirk 

SoB-‐U 

Ryan Counihan 

Evan Kline 

SoB-‐G 

Shashwat Gautam 

Greg Viola 

SPHHS-‐U 

Alex Mizenko 

SPHHS-‐G 

VACANT 

CPS-‐U/CPS-‐G 

VACANT 

SoN 

VACANT 

Non-‐Voting G 

VACANT 

Non-‐Voting Freshmen 

Senators 

I. Call to Order 9:06PM by madam chair 

II. Roll Call 

Present: Amesquita, Kennedy, Scheckter, Bonneau, Chervinksy, Batchelor, 

Bucci III, Egel-‐Weiss, Firouzi, Gumas, Shetron, Bumgardner, Castroverde, Naple, 

Kickish, Forquer, Morgan, Rattanasena, Rose, Kirk, Counihan, Kline, Gautam, 

Viola, Mizenko 

Absent: Werner, Barnes, Dempsey, Yarbough, and Rone 

III. Public Comment 

IV. President’s Report 

What the administration would like to see happen this year: 

• Goal #1 Student Space. Twenty-‐two page proposal. Ten 

recommendations broken up over timeline for how 

administration can improve the situation. Examples: 

Opening academic buildings 24-‐hours. Eliminate 

technology and room reservation fees. 

• Goal #2 Student Wellness. Goals include free HIV testing 

and adjusting gym hours. 

• Goal #3 Student Activities Calendar. Collaboration with 

External Relations. 

• Other initiatives include: Continuing the work of the Fee 

Commission; currently looking at transcript, 18 credit, and 

study abroad fees. 

• The Executive worked hard during the summer to make 

sure they had the best people available for the 

appointments presented at the meeting tonight. 

V. Presidential Nominations 

Ø Bonneau speaks of GW branding 

Ø Narla responds 

Ø Viola questions graduate appointments to JCFS 

Ø Narla responds 

a. Vice Presidents 

i. VP Financial Affairs: John Bennett 

Ø Bennett initial greeting 

Ø Mizenko questions Bennett’s qualifications 

Student Association – The George Washington University – Washington, DC 

Marvin Center – 800 21 st St., NW, Suite 427 – Washington, DC 20052

Ø Bennett responds 

-‐ Motion to vote by Kickish, seconded by Chervinsky, motion passes 22-‐0* 

ii. VP Graduate Student Policy: Larisa Ozeryansky 

Ø Ozeryansky initial greeting 

Ø Amesquita questions qualification and experience 

Ø Ozeryansky responds 

-‐ Motion to vote by Morgan, seconded by Counihan, motion passes 22-‐ 

0* 

b. Joint Committee for Faculty and Students (JCFS) 

i. Jeremy Illoulian (Student Co-‐Chair) 

Ø Illoulian speaks 

-‐ Kickish Motions to limit speeches to 45 seconds, seconded by 

-‐ 

Batchelor, motion passes 24-‐0. 

(Castroverde Motions to suspend the rules and vote on Illoulian 

appointment after gavel pass, seconded by Kickish, motion passes 24-‐ 

0-‐1. Amesquita abstains.) 

ii. Michael Amesquita 

Ø Amesquita speaks 

-‐Motion to vote by Kickish, seconded by Batchelor, motion passes 23-‐0-‐1. Amesquita abstains. 

iii. Amna Bibi 

Ø Bibi speaks 

-‐Motion to vote by Morgan, seconded by Counihan, motion passes 24-‐0-‐1. Amesquita abstains. 

iv. Nicole Disarno 

Ø Disarno speaks 

-‐Motion to vote by Kickish, seconded by Counihan, motion passes 24-‐0-‐1. Amesquita abstains. 

v. Kyle Kurland 

Ø Kurland speaks 

-‐Motion to vote by Bumgardner, seconded by Mizenko, motion passes 24-‐0-‐1. Amesquita 

abstains. 

vi. Alicia Rose 

Ø Rose speaks 

-‐Motion to vote by Morgan, seconded by Egel-‐Weiss, motion passes 23-‐0-‐2. Amesquita and Rose 

abstain. 

vii. Jennifer Titche 

Ø Titche speaks 

-‐Motion to vote by Bumgardner, seconded by Bonneau, motion passes 24-‐0-‐1. Amesquita 

abstains. 

c. Judicial 

i. James Waller (Law School), SA Court 

Ø Waller speaks 

-‐Motion to vote by Kickish, seconded by Bucci, motion passes 25-‐0 

ii. Harris Martinson (Grad), SA Court 

Ø Martinson speaks 

-‐Motion to vote by Morgan, seconded by Bumgardner, motion passes 25-‐0 



VI. Senate Committee Reports 

a. Leadership 

Ø Amesquita speaks on the committee having met twice to go over bills to be 

presented next meeting. Also adds that they met yesterday to go over freshman 

senate applicants. There are 83 applications for three non-‐voting senate seats, three 

committee aid positions, and other positions are available. Another set of interviews 

will be help this Sunday from 10:00AM-‐6:00PM 

b. Academic Affairs 

Ø Rose speaks of the committee’s focus on three overarching topics. Accessibility, 

space, and advertising. They are also working with Senator Morgan on an Elliott 

School town hall. 

c. Finance 

Ø Mizenko speaks of getting ready for allocations. The SA is working with less money 

than last year, and there are now 50 new student groups. He adds to make sure if 

one has friends in student organizations, that they are reading into how to propose a 

good budget. 

d. Student Life 

Ø Kennedy speaks of the two bills that we passed last year through committee and in 

regards to vending machines in Gelman Library. Three have already been put 

downstairs, and healthier options are to be installed in the next few weeks. Kline is 

working on extension of business school hours. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

Announcements on Initiatives 

Ø Madam chair greets Executive Cabinet and freshmen class members with 

appreciation for taking the time to come out to the meeting. 

Old Business 

a. Student Organization Assignments-‐ 

Ø Madam chair addresses Senate to fill out and hand in student organization 

preferences by adjournment. 

Ø Mizenko speaks in regards to sub-‐umbrella groups re-‐registering student 

organizations. 

New Business 

a. Tax Services Initiative 

Ø Kennedy speaks of working on an initiative where tax services can be available in the 

Career Center. 

b. Student Dinning Board 

Ø Morgan speaks of how he is the new student Dining Board Chair and encourages 

senators to approach him with dinning comments and concerns. 

c. Subcommittee for Allocating Funds 

Ø Egel-‐Weiss speaks of wanting to create a subcommittee for allocating funds to 

student organizations, looking at fundraising and other funding options. Student 

organization would be able to go to the subcommittee during the year, giving the 

organization another option for funding. 

d. Student Financial Aid Assistance in College 

Ø Firouzi speaks of working on future legislation in regards to how colleges help 

students get financial aid. 



e. Dakota Fire and GW Emergencies 

Ø Rose speaks of the fire in The Dakota residence and of other GW emergencies where 

the GW administration has done a poor job of notifying students; she speaks of 

working with other Senators on legislation to pressure the university to improve 

response time. 

f. Graduate Student Fee Hikes 

Ø Gautam speaks of fee hikes for graduate student rising by 4.8 %. Students were not 

informed of hikes in a proper manner. 

o Note from Senator Gautam: “Students were not informed at all and this 

decision was taken without any inputs from Graduate Student body and it is a 

clear breach of protocol and regulations.” 

g. International Students Health Insurance Policy 

Ø Gautam speaks of issue with the Director of International Students and the health 

insurance policy as it mandates students to take a specific insurance (Aetna). 

o Note from Senator Gautam: “Proper procedure was not followed in 

communicating students about revised health insurance policy. There is no 

resource provided by GW to help students with the waiver and selection of 

Aetna as a service provider sounds questionable, as it was not the lowest 

bidder. In addition, I am currently working with Director of International 

Students and Student Health Services to ensure there are necessary 

amendments for the same to make it more feasible for students.” 

X. Public Comment 

Ø Residence Hall Association President Jacob Thayer speaks of fire in the Dakota 

residence hall and how there is a clear gap between students and administration. 

The administration (Dean of Students office) is working towards giving new alerts 

about what is going on in a timelier manner. 

Ø Vice President of Community Affairs Patrick Kennedy speaks of the advisory 

committee meeting that was held to discuss campus development. Square 75a is 

going forward with office building on site (where Froggy Bottom Pub, Mehran, Panda 

Café, and other businesses reside). There are two community benefits: One is 

affordable housing, and the other is development for community benefits. He also 

adds that if students want to see low-‐cost businesses in square 75a, they must speak 

up by attending community meetings (Foggy Bottom Association), speak up with 

administrators, and use social media. 

XI. Pass the Gavel 

XII. Adjournment 

-‐Motion to adjourn by Morgan, seconded by Kickish, motion passes 25-‐0 at 10:12PM 

Next meeting is Monday September 24 th at 9:00PM in Marvin Center room 309. 

*Changes in voter count occur when senators step in and out of the room and are accurate 

ranging from 22 to 25 voting senators present.

Abby Bergren Student Association Senate Meeting #1 - GW Student ...

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