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October 16th, 2019

AgendaMinutes

Present: Lydia Jenkins-Sleczkowski, Adam Selcov, Fiona Weigant, Lucy Rojas, Alexa Chavez, Chase Hayes, Venkatesh Nagubandi, Lisa Bishop, Brynna Downey, Elliot Lewis, Sue Carter

Guest: Lucy Van Doorn, Planning & Budget

  1. Approval of Agenda and Minutes
    1. Adam motions to approve the agenda. Brynna seconds the motion. Motion carries.
    2. Adam motions to approve the minutes; Brynna seconds the motion. Motion carries.
  2. Announcements & Updates
    1. Welcome new Staff Advisory Board Member - Fiona Weigant
      1. Introductions are conducted.
    2. Debrief CSF
      1. Lydia went to the CSF meeting at UC Davis two weeks ago.
      2. Each campus presented its SFAC structure and methodology for the funding call process.
      3. There was a discussion regarding transportation and UCSA’s advocacy in this area; CSF did not take a stance on this issue.
      4. There was discussion regarding a system-wide day for SFACs to have events. At first, the event was themed around basic needs, then there was discussion about doing a survey.
      5. CSF discussed building a memo to present to UCOP to ask for official recognition, similar to UCSA.
      6. Cohort based tuition. There was discussion regarding UC moving forward with this model. It will be discussed at the November Regents meeting. If this passes, it could be implemented as early as Fall 2020. CSF is not in favor of moving forward with the model at this time, due to lack of consultation with students, how SSF is linked, connection to CalGrant, etc. CSF will issue a letter of UCOP.
      7. Next meeting is January 25th and 26th at UCLA.
    3. NSBE Funding Request - Amendment
      1. Lucy shares a request from NSBE to amend a funding request so they can use SFAC’s allocation for all conference costs (instead of registration only).
        1. Venkatesh is supportive as long as funding is still for the conference. Elliot agrees.
        2. Adam is fine with changing the allocation.
        3. Adam motions to amend SFAC allocation to NSBE to be open to conference related travel expenses. Venkatesh seconds the motion. No objections. Motion carries.
    4. Other Announcements
      1. Adam shares that his presentation to SUA will be on October 22nd (instead of October 8th as noted in last meeting’s minutes).
      2. Fiona shares that she is also serving as the staff adviser to the Graduate Student Commons Governance Board.
      3. Fiona mentions that when there are requests for conference costs, we should consider that funding conference registration only could impact a groups possibility to participate at all if they don’t get other funding.
  3. Funding Call Preparation
    1. Lydia explains that we are ready to begin discussing the funding call process.
    2. Lucy explains some of the analysis for the committee includes determining how much to hold in reserves (if at all), how much to put out in the funding call, update the letter and vote on the rubric.
    3. Brynna asks for clarification on why Measure 7 fund amount is known, but not SSF yet. Lisa explains that Measure 7 is under the purview of SFAC, so there is a simple reconciliation and the carryforward comes to SFAC. SSF is being held back because of changes to UC Path and what the benefits true costs will be. Analysis is still being conducted.
    4. Brynna asks what the fee reserve amount was last year. It was 15% and the thought was to set aside a reserve in case of emergencies, etc. because the allocated amount was so high.
    5. Discussion on how much to allocate:
      1. Adam explains that last year we had many proposals that we funded at a large amount. Adam asks if the application amounts from last year were driven by the amount that was available. Adam suggests that if we do any reserve, we do less than 15% because the point of last year’s reserve was to hold off funds for this year.
    6. Lydia asks everyone to review the metric and the funding memo in preparation for the next meeting.
  4. Summer Campus Based Fees Discussion - Lisa
    1. Lisa presents information on the calculation of the summer fee campus based fee level.
    2. There is a UCOP policy on summer campus based fees.
    3. Lisa will need to know by January if SFAC wants to recommend changing any of these fee levels.
    4. Lucy explains that earlier in the summer, a survey was sent to units that receive summer campus based fees, to collect information about their summer services.
    5. Lydia reminds the group that there was a discussion last year about TAPS and why the fee is charged at 100%; Lisa says that now that the TAPS referenda has passed maybe they won’t need the full amount.
    6. Adam mentions that there is less services in the summer.
    7. Sue says that it’s problematic to charge students the full fee if they are enrolled in an online course for example.
    8. Lydia explains that we will come back to this conversation at a future meeting; please review Lisa’s presentation and the results of the survey.
  5. Misc & Course Fees Committee - Visit with Lucy Van Doorn (2:30 - 3:00 pm)
    1. Introductions
    2. Lucy explains that she is looking for three SFAC members to serve on the Misc & Course Fee Committees. The reps don’t have to be the same members each time.
    3. Role of these committees: participate in the annual review of Miscellaneous and Course fees. Course fees are in February and Miscellaneous fees is in April.
    4. Proposals are submitted to the Chair for review. Lucy reviews the proposals in terms of policy, she reviews the financials for the fees (there are requirements that must be met). She researches the history of fee, etc. She will create a summary for each fee proposal for the committee to review.
    5. The committee meets a few times for each process; Lucy V. reviews the membership of the committees. She will prioritize student participation through the scheduling process.
    6. Lucy V. says she will meet with students outside the committee scheduled time in order to obtain feedback. She really wants student participation in this committee.
    7. Course Fees - there are currently 312 course fees (all divisions have fees except Humanities). These are approved for a three year period.
    8. There is discussion regarding whether reps could be appointed through SCOC. Lucy V. confirms that she believes that reps to these committees are to be appointed through SFAC and be SFAC members.
    9. Brynna asks whether there is compensation for participating in these committees? Lucy V. says no. Lucy R. suggests that students who participate in these committees could count participation toward SFAC requirements such as tabling.
    10. Misc. Fees can not be charged for any mandatory activities (such as courses); these are for expenses such as room rental.
    11. Lucy V. says that there is an informational meeting that members can attend.
    12. Lucy V. would like to know as soon as possible who will represent. Follow up with Lucy V. if you have any questions, are interested, etc.
      1. Who’s interested? Alexa, Brynna, Lydia are interested.
  6. Adjournment
    1. Brynna motions to adjourn, Lydia seconds the motion. Motion carries.

Upcoming Guests/Topics:

  • October 23rd: AVC/Dean of Student Garrett Naiman, 1:30 - 3:00 pm (Briefing on Basic Needs)
  • October 30th: Lisa Bishop, University Budget/SSF/M7/Campus Based Fees Presentation to the committee
  • November 20th: Chancellor Cindy Larive, 2:00 - 2:45 pm
  • Upcoming: AVC Jennifer Baszile, Career Success (Briefing on Career Success initiatives and discussion on Career Center services and programs)