STUDENT SENATESESSION XXXVIII – MEETING 11

December 4th, 2016 – 6pm– Paul College Room 225MINUTES

1. CALL TO ORDER 

2. GUESS SPEAKERS

a. Dean Kirkpatrick: I am grateful that I get to talk to you about the student fee units. The SHARRP fee has increased $1, which allows us to put on the Weekend Walker Program. There will not be an increase in the SHARRP fee for next year. Ruth has done a wonderful job serving as interim chair, and there is currently a search for a permanent director. Concerning the Office of Community Standards, work has been done to improve transparency. I am proud of Charlie’s work, especially as the Counseling Center has been undergoing sizable changes. It was time to revisit the mental health services offered on this campus, which meant looking at best practices from other colleges and making sure we have a good staff for the spring to include licensed clinical MSWs (Masters in Social Work). Students are looking for a model that makes it so we are not so siloed on talking about mental health. There are a lot of students that need help in some form. Our goal is to try to combine all of these services: SHARRP, counseling center, and health service. We are very excited about this change. Dr. Charles has been a close partner with me on this. The goal is to keep things affordable, thus we are only asking for a modest increase. Each college will hire its own career counselor.

b. Dr. Kevin Charles: Health services is made of several pieces, but it is not yet a one stop shop. That is our long-term goal. Our short term goals are enhancing medical care, public health, student involvement, education, and counseling. This year’s increase is meant to keep up with the staff costs. We are a salary heavy organization (60%, due to professional staff). This increase will help us stay afloat, but we will have to dip into reserves either way.

c. Kirkpatrick: our service delivery was fragmented, but it was great to see our staff work together to improve it. When you put talented people together, good things happen. I asked Vice President Carly and Council Chairwoman Sarai to serve on the search committees for the new directors.

d. Jon: why is there not a fee for OCS?i. Kirkpatrick: I think justice should not be fee based, and that has always

been the case. Under my tenure, I don’t think that is something I want fees to be wrapped in.

e. Silas: what will happen to the buildings that were formally used?i. Ted: Dr. Charles has been working on this for years. I suspect that they

would become administrative offices, combined with a major donor to make the renovations possible. They could also be used for classroom space.

f. Chris: Is the 24-hour nurse available physically or by telephone?i. Dr. Charles: telephone.

g. Zach: one of the biggest issues that students bring up is dentistry. My dentist happens to be an hour away. Has there been any discussion on dentistry?

i. Dr. Charles: this comes up regularly. The problem is that it is not financially plausible. Despite the cost factor we do try to provide options for students. The student health benefits plan can help give discounts, but that is the best we can do right now.

h. PJ: It seems that carpel tunnel is absent from the student health benefits plan. Have you considered adding treatments to help this?

i. Dr. Charles: we do diagnose and refer. As for therapy, if we had the resources we would love to do something like that.

i. Jake: will a new facility solve the vast majority of issues with health services?i. Dr. Charles: I would say so. Issues with delivery and cost are effected by

the current building. The current building was outdated when I arrived here 20 years ago. Outcomes would be improved with the new facility. I cannot say 51% with absolute certainty.

ii. Kirkpatrick: safety is part of health and wellness. Students would be better served if everything was more holistic, including the building. I would like to believe we would see a bounce from this. I am mindful that there are privacy interests we have to protect, even between offices. Let’s think creatively. I am open to all ideas. We can do a better job with the resources students provide, which is why we are reevaluating delivery. The fact is that you students are more open about talking about mental health, which is what we have been working to do for years. Let’s get our counselors out into the community so students and faculty can get to know them.

j. Chris: Some of the most stressed students are athletes. Do you have plans to reach out to them specifically?

i. Kirkpatrick: it is a beat I want to get to.k. Vasudevan: I have been at UNH for nearly thirty years now. We are trying to

centralize services and have career counselors embedded in every college. We need resources to run this, though. Our top priority is to support colleges with employer relation specialists and integrate them with academic advisors.

l. PJ: Is one counsellor or specialist enough for COLA?i. Vasudevan: No. We would want to achieve a student to counselor ratio of

400:1.m. Jon: How do you plan to address the privacy concerns of sharing data between

different people and offices?i. Vasudevan: That is a problem. We seek you use a program called

Simplicity. Each report to associate vice-provost, and the expectation is

that there will be a sharing of information.n. Elena: Have there been efforts to engage with agencies, businesses, and companies?

i. Vasudevan: It used to be that students did not want to leave NH. That is changing now. Establishing connections with companies and partnering with alumni and parents is very important, and it has been one of our goals. We are always looking to reach out to various constituencies and employers. It will take a few years, but we will be making progress.

o. Vasudevan: getting an education is not enough. Employers are looking for high impact experiences and extra-circulars. We aim to build on experiential learning, and create a co-curricular transcript that can be submitted along with a student’s resume.

p. Kunal: international students have barriers that hinder their ability to get internship experiences, so what efforts are being taken in this area?

i. Vasudevan: That is a good but complicated question. We are working to make sure that international students are also included. 

3. ROLL CALL

4. COMMUNICATIONS a. Senators and Guests 

a. None.b. Graduate Student Senate 

a. Not present.c. Liaison to Administration

a.  Not present.d. Senate Executive Board 

a. Parliamentarian Shannon: There is going to be an ad hoc committee to fix content and grammatical errors in the Bylaws next semester. If interested, please let me know. There will not be judiciary tomorrow so you can focus on academics. However, if you have an item of business I will call a meeting, but as it stands right now, we will not have a meeting. We have had long meeting lately, which can cause a lot of mental and time stress. I understand if you feel like you do not want to be here that long, but it is also your obligation. That is why we are all going to try not to be so repetitive. Comments should be for new information. We should use the time during the week to talk to constituents and authors. Please help us by not wasting your time. Alex and I will be more strict about this tonight and in the future.

b. Executive Officer Alex: I am really excited about the executive officer nomination. Lauren will become the primary contact on Wildcat Link, so please get in touch with her.

i. Lauren: Student Senate is hosting Secret Snowflake, a non-denominational gift exchange. Signups are still open until Monday.

c. Business Manager Christian: no communications.

d. Director Public Relations PJ: There has been technical difficulties with the identity board, but we are working on that. If you are stressed, come to Primal Scream! Share the event on social media and tell your friends!

e. Historian Jesse: no communications. f. SAFC Chairperson Aaron: SAFC is meeting this Friday.g. CFO 1 Danny: no communications.h. CFO 2 Jake: I have to make a semester report as part of my bylaws, so

bear with me. The range in the ORO is $47,000 and $94,000. We have the actual spent amount, but the conservative amount includes events that have been approved but have not happened yet. We have probably spent 56% so far.

i. Academic Affairs Chair Bryce: Thank you to everyone who has come to my council meetings. I am looking forward to working with you next semester. There will be a textbook resolution coming up. Happy Holidays and good luck with exams.

j. Campus Structure Chair Zach: Despite all the officers who are leaving, I must report that you are all still stuck with me. I will also not be holding a meeting this week, but I will be open to consultations. I will be happy to hear it. Hope you have a fantastic break and good luck on finals. And if you are going to put an idea on the idea board, please put a contact on it. It is hard to make progress without it.

k. Community Development Chair Sarai: Thank you to those in my council, and I hope you all stick around. Our resolution is finally coming up tonight!

l. Health and Wellness Chair Katie: Jon: Katie has stepped down, and we will look to fill that position. We had a very good talk with the committee about second semester goals.

m. External Affairs Chair Sadie: hopefully my resolution will also make it up tonight. Have a wonderful break!

n. Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Chair Alicia: not present.o. Financial Affairs Chair Ian: If you have ever been wondering what we

have been doing all semester, you are going to find out tonight.p. Judicial Affairs Chair Brennan: we have been working on the attorney

referral list. I have had two separate law firms contact me already, so word is certainly getting around.

e. Student Trustee Lincolna. There is a lot of great news on the freedom front. I will be compiling a list

of offensive policies and then they will be brought to the President. I will keep you posted on that while we march forward. This is the only meeting of the year we should aim to be out by 9PM, due to finals.

f. Student Body Vice President Carley a. I have been impressed with everyone in the cabinet and those who

attended the meetings and made the resolutions. Keep it up for next semester!

g. Student Body President Jona. It has been a pretty busy week. Students have been asking what meetings

and events I will be attending, so I attached a schedule on my office door. Right now there are about twenty-five different meetings posted. If you have questions about those please let me know. We will have one last executive officer meeting this week. I hope that we will get all of tonight’s resolutions through. I am happy to see this kind of stuff and share what has been going on.

h. Student Senate Speaker Alexa. I will speak to the appointments. I appreciate Alex Work for her work. I

am not the easiest to work with, but I appreciate having her on the team. I have also received a petition for the removal of Jon Dean, but because I cannot verify the signatures I cannot take action on this now.

b. Alex Work: motion to overturn the speaker’s decisions. By not verifying the petition it is a clear violation of speakers bylaws. I would like to have a conversation on this.

i. Sadie: I agree with speaker that the signatures cannot be verified, especially considering that I heard that signatures were collected at a party where not many people were sober. We need to verify that they are fulltime undergraduate students too.

ii. Silas: when did you receive this petition?1. Speaker Alex: Ten minutes after Exec. I heard rumors that

this was going around, but only the registration office can verify this, and thus I cannot act on this petition. My bylaws mandate me to make sure that is the case. I cannot do this at this time.

iii. Alex Work: if you had an idea that there was an intent for a petition, why did you not take the extra steps?

1. Speaker Alex: I was not certain that there was an actual petition until you e-mailed me about it today. The problem is that rumors have been flying around the whole year. The right of verifying signatures is reserved for the registration office. It is not even open on Sunday.

iv. Lincoln: The registrar’s officer will not give you a list of students so you can cross check. Speaker Alex would have to send the list of signatures to the registrar’s office and then they would verify.

v. Doug: motion to call to question.1. Motion passed.

vi. Motion failed.c. Alex Fries: I would like to go back into my communication and thank

Aaron as well for his service as SAFC Chair this semester.

5. NEW BUSINESS a. XXXVIII - 2.01 - Removal of Senators  

i. Nate Marcolis, Danny O’Leary, Lauren Wiegand were added.ii. Laruen: these people were contacted and know they are being removed.

iii. Passed with one nay.b. XXXVIII - 3.01 - Approval of Senators 

i. Silas Richards (Non-Resident 12) was added.ii. PJ: Wouldn’t he be Non-Resident 1, considering that it is now open?

1. Laruen: It is up to my discretion, and I do not see a problem with how it is.

b. XXXVIII – 4.01 Approval of Executive Office Appointmenti. Speaker Alex: The interview committee had three applications, but one

withdrew. We felt both applicants were strong and brought unique skills to the table.

ii. Alex Work: I think the interview committee agrees that Lauren will make the most of this position.

iii. Alexander: she will be fabulous in this position, having worked with her as a co-senator.

iv. Passed unanimously.c. XXXVIII – 5.01 Approval of General Election Standing Operation Procedures

i. Speaker Alex: In essence, there will be date shifts, but still keeping the period of length the same. The shifts are simply meant to account for the shifts that happen year by year. Student Trustee timeline was slightly different, so that was also changed to keep it in line.

ii. Jon: when we actually looked at the dates, we realized that in the circumstance that something failed we would not be able to put the President forward.

iii. Speaker Alex: Spring break is right after the election, so that posed further difficulties with the election.

iv. Passed with one abstention.d. XXXVIII – 6.01 Approval of Student Activity Fee Committee Chairperson

Appointmenti. Aaron: the SAF Committee had a meeting on Friday, and had two

candidates came in for an interview. After deliberation we nominated Jake. He is an outstanding choice, so please vote for him so I can get out of here.

ii. Zach: I have no question about his ability. Encourage you to pass this without question.

iii. Passed with two abstentions. e. XXXVIII – 4.01 Approval of Senior Policy Advisor to the Student

Trustee/University System Board Recommendationsi. Lincoln: I appreciate your patience as I worked to find the right person

with the right credentials. We (meaning Nate Hastings) have found that person: Christian Merheb! We work well together, and he is qualified as anyone can be, so I look forward to not dying anymore.

ii. Zach: how will this effect your position as Senate Business Manager?1. Christian: this no way conflicts, because the new position is not a

formal member of the executive board. But I will eventually look for a replacement depending on how it goes in the future.

iii. Jake: you are willingly accepting this job, right?1. Christian: Yes, actually.

iv. Passed with one abstention.

f. XXXVIII – R19- Financial Affairs Committee Budget Recommendationsi. Ian: we are involved in the mandatory fee process, and we have been

looking for student input on these fees. In general, there is no major increase.

ii. Jon: In probably late July we sat down and revised this process with FAC. I am disappointed that athletics could not come and speak to us, but overall I believe this new process is successful.

iii. Lincoln: I thought we did a holistic review process?1. Ian: In the SOP it says we do the two separately.

iv. Alexander: why are not all the dining and housing prices listed?1. Ina: Logistically, I did not think including every price was

necessary.v. Jake: why draw from health services instead of making a new fee?

1. Ian: Administration pulled from it because it had a healthy reserve to keep the services they have.

2. Lincoln: they are so rich, they have mad money. They can take the hit.

3. Jon: Point of Information: Health Services is on the SARK funding.

vi. Emily Counts: Is this model sustainable?1. Ian: Revenues will run out in six years, but they are looking into

projects to generate revenue.vii. Emily Counts: will career services have their own fee?

1. Ian: yes, with $100.viii. Jake: Can you explain the athletics increase?

1. Ian: Athletics is looking at a 3.1% increase. Salaries are going up 6.7%, with fringe benefits going up 5%. There has been an increase in internal allocations, due to striking a deal with ESPN-3.

ix. Lincoln: love what you are doing here. Can we talk about the value proposition of athletics? Maybe attach some conditions to this resolution saying we would like to see certain structural tweaks to increase output of product (#menshockey).

1. Ian: I cannot speak to the quality or the value proposition of the fee.

2. Jon: we are going to ensure that we have a discussion about this. It does not sit right with me to pass this without athletics answering our questions.

x. Ian: if you have any concerns about the athletic fee or the service, send them to me.

xi. Lincoln: can we pull athletics and have a conversation about the rest of the items?

1. Ian: The deadline to submit the letter to administration is December 9th.

2. Jon: Ian’s group thoroughly looked at the budget and found out that there was no major increase. If you have concerns about the amount of money, that is a different story. As for things like

winning games and game attendance, that is a separate conversation.

xii. Aaron: what is the best way to get the Board of Trustees to hear our concerns?

1. Lincoln: Ian would write a letter, which would go to UNH administration who would make comments and send it to the Board of Trustees. I could also submit the letter to the Board and skip those middle steps. They may not like it, but I could do it.

xiii. Lincoln: I really enjoy athletics. I just object to paying this much for the athletic fee considering that we are not doing well in the one thing we are known for: hockey. We do everything else well. We keep hearing that “hockey is going to be get better”. I want to see results! The student section (which is free) is not even full! Let’s pull athletics and have the conversation we need to have.

xiv. Zach: we should have split the question on these fees. It was irresponsible to make this a blanket statement. It is also irresponsible to pass more fees when UNH students come out with the most debt than any other state school in the nation. Communication with athletics has been getting worse with time, and there was never factual reason for it. Athletics should be pulled. I do not mind writing a resolution on the floor if we have to.

xv. Ian: my goal is to voice the opinion on the student body on the fee increases. Motion to divide the question among each individual fee.

1. Zach: please support this. I appreciate the author brining this forward.

a. Motion passed unanimously.xvi. Health Fee

1. Ian: Even though it has been reduced by $100, it will be fixed with other sources of revenue.

2. Passed unanimously.xvii. SHARRP Fee

1. Passed unanimously.xviii. Campus Rec

1. Passed unanimously.xix. MUB Fee

1. Passed with one nay.xx. Transportation Fee

1. Passed unanimously.xxi. Career Professional Success

1. Zach: if this was increased in future years, where would it come from?

a. Ian: I did not think that far, but there is nothing that would stop them from increasing it.

2. Passed with one nay.xxii. Athletics Fee

1. Jake: motion to remove this line. Lincoln elaborated on it this quite well. I am not comfortable voting on this without hearing from

athletics. I understand it was not there fault for not being here, but a discussion should be had.

a. Ian: I do not like the idea of removing it because it takes away student vote on this. Trustees and Administration are not going to look at this very well. This is needs to be a yes or no vote.

b. Lincoln: what happens if we send the letter later or in an alternative way?

i. Ian: They will not get the recommendation for athletics in time. This will be a domino effect up to the top.

c. Lincoln: will they change anything based on what we feel?i. Ian: it is important that student voice is given. If not

now, it will not happen.ii. Lincoln: the only reason we submit letters is so they

can ship it nicely to the Board of Trustees. If we delay this, it may be a pain in the butt for them, but we do not serve them. We should go right to the Board.

d. Jake: I amend my motion to say “be it further resolved to not approve the Athletic Fee for FY18 at a three and one-tenths increase from one thousand and forty-three to one thousand and seventy-five dollars until the Athletics Department can speak to their fee increase.”

e. Ian: Couldn’t I just include this in the letter?i. Jake: I feel rejecting the fee on its own will send the

wrong message.f. Zach: I think this motion helps explain why we voted it

down. I support this.g. Ian: any concerns will be addressed to the concerned

parties in my letter. For that reason, I do not think this is necessary.

h. Doug: motion to call to question.i. Motion passed.

i. Amended Motion passed.2. Jon: in light of this, Ian, Lincoln, and I will bring your questions

forward to Athletics and get answers. Just e-mail those questions to us.

xxiii. Student Activity Fee1. Passed with one abstention.

xxiv. Technology Fee1. Passed with one abstention.

xxv. Housing Rate1. Lincoln: on my quest for freedom, I found some residential life

policies that were offensive, so I cannot support this.

2. Ian: I do not agree saying to failing this, seeing as this is a financial overview.

3. Lincoln: when you pay you are signing a contract that says you are accepting its policies.

4. Elena: what would be the process if Senate were to fail this?a. Ian: I would convey the concerns of this body in a letter

and they would see the opinion.5. Jon: I would love to hear from constituents about this.6. Peter: My constituents are paranoid about not being able to say

what they think and be able to express themselves. These are Blue Laws of dorm regulations, but they would care either way.

7. Silas: If we have an opportunity as a student body to cement our constitutional rights, we should do that.

8. Jon: seeing as we cannot confirm, would you say we are against the policies?

a. By saying we disagree with the policy, we would be saying it infringes on our constitutional rights.

9. Emily Counts: as an RA, I can say the RA you mentioned missed the point a little bit.

10. Jon: Lincoln is not wrong about the policy, but his comments on inclusivity is going to the far side. Disagreeing with a policy is fine, but I believe he is looking for ways to address his concerns to Administration.

11. Alicia: bump to Lincoln.a. Lincoln: just because somebody did not bring it up to

administration ahead of time does not mean we shouldn’t do this.

12. Passed with seven nays.xxvi. Dining Rates

1. Passed unanimously.g. XXXVIII – R12- Increase the Amount of Recycling Bins in Academic Buildings

i. Sarai: this resolution came around because not all the buildings have the same amount of recycling bins. The Sustainability Office is aware of this, and students are also aware. Passing this resolution would help demonstrate further to administration that students want more recycling bins. We did not quantify because rooms and buildings are not the same size.

ii. Jake: I love this. Pass it. iii. Chris: I do research on these sort of things, and discovered that we throw

away about 70% of what could be recycled. This resolution will be a great help in making UNH an even greener campus.

iv. Passed unanimously.h. XXXVIII – R13- Addition of Bicycle Storage and Coverage Racks

i. Carly: Housing was in favor of this, did a lot of research about what other universities are doing about this.

ii. Carly: [read in changes].

iii. PJ: I am sick and tired of tripping over bikes. Please pass this.iv. Emily: Gibbs has two racks, which are fantastic because they do not take

up a lot of space.v. Tyler: it is unfortunate that UNH has not updated their website on this.

vi. Passed Unanimously.i. XXXVIII – R16- Direct Communications

i. Sadie: I had a lot of people talk to me about all the e-mails they receive daily from the University, some as much as seven in one day.

ii. Jake: can you speak to “commercial benefit.”1. Sadie: Wildcat gear and UNH book store stuff.

iii. Lincoln: I am concerned that the language is addressing this to the wrong parties. Could we change that?

1. Jon: Might help to give some background on this. Carly and I talked with Ted Kirkpatrick about the direct communication process. He asked if I would comment on direct communications that students want. I could not speak for everyone, so I deferred it to Sadie, who did the research and made this resolution.

2. Sadie: the intention is not to get rid of direct communications. I am under the impression that they use the same means to send the direct communications.

iv. Elena: are there any specific areas you want to exclude, because I think you are too broad.

1. Sadie: read in change “and academic information related to students” to “information related to academics and student life.”

v. Carly: the point is not to stop students for getting valuable information, just stop getting repeated information.

vi. Passed unanimously.j. XXXVIII – R18-Hormone Replacement Therapy

i. Pulled by author.k. XXXVIII – R20- Increasing the Amount of White Boards

i. Pulled by the author.6. Other Business7. Adjournment

Student Senate Bill XXXVlll – 2.01 Removal of SenatorsIntroduced by: Executive Officer, Alex WorkDate: December 4th, 2016

Be it enacted by the Student Senate of the University of New Hampshire to remove the following individuals as Student Senators for the remainder of session XXXVlll:

Lauren Wiegand: Co – Senator FairchildNate Marsolais: Non Resident 10Danny O’Leary: Non Resident 1

Senate Action: Passed with One NaySpeaker Verification:

Student Senate Bill XXXVlll – 3.01 Approval of SenatorsIntroduced by: Executive Officer, Alex WorkDate: December 4th, 2016

Be it enacted by the Student Senate of the University of New Hampshire to approve the following individuals as Student Senators for the remainder of session XXXVlll:

Silas Richards: Non Resident 12

Senate Action: Passes with One AbstentionSpeaker Verification:

Student Senate Bill XXXVlll – 4.01 Approval of Executive Officer AppointmentIntroduced by: Speaker, Alex FriesDate: December 4th, 2016

Lauren Wiegand

Senate Action: Passes UnanimouslySpeaker Verification:

Student Senate Bill XXXVllI - 5.01 – Approval of General Election Standing Operating ProceduresDate: December 4th, 2016

Attachment Pulled up on Screen

Senate Action: Passes with One AbstentionSpeaker Verification:

Student Senate Bill XXXVllI - 6.01 – Approval of Student Activity Fee Committee Chairperson AppointmentIntroduced by: Student Activities Fee Committee Chairperson. Aaron Scheiman Date: December 4th, 2016

Jake Adams

Senate Action: Passes with Two AbstentionsSpeaker Verification:

Student Senate Bill XXXVllI - 7.01 – Approval of the Senior Policy Advisor to the Student/ Trustee/ University System Student Board RepresentativeIntroduced by: Student Trustee/ University System Student Board Representative, Lincoln CrutchfieldDate: December 4th, 2016

Be it enacted by the Student Senate of the University of New Hampshire to approve the following individual as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Student Trustee/ University System Student Board Representative for the remainder of Session XXXVlll:

Christian Merheb

Senate Action: Passes with One AbstentionSpeaker Verification:

Student Senate XXXVllI - R 12– Increasing the Amount of Reclining Bins in Academic Buildings Introduced by: Community Development Chair, Sarai BardalesDate: December 4th, 2016

Whereas, the University of New Hampshire (UNH) possesses the oldest endowed sustainability program in higher education in the nation, which was established in 1997 (1), and

Whereas, UNH was given the “Green Honor Roll” by the Princeton Review in 2016 (2) and,

Whereas, UNH has been introducing recycling receptacles into all of the new and renovated on-campus buildings, such as McConnell and Paul College, and

Whereas, during Student Senate Session XXXVII, a resolution was passed unanimously regarding the issue of litter and lack of necessary waste receptacles (3), and

Whereas, UNH created 1,400 tons of landfill waste in 2014 (4), and

Whereas, recycling has been proven to limit landfill waste and preserve natural resources (5), and

Whereas, the UNH Sustainability Institute is planning to focus on reducing indoor and outdoor waste and increasing recycling receptacles across campus (6), therefore

Be it resolved by the Student Senate of the University of New Hampshire to urgeadministration to consider buying and placing more recycling bins in each academic building that does not have an adequate amount of recycling bins in comparison to the recently renovated buildings, and

Be it further resolved to encourage an increase in the amount of recycling bins by one academic building per semester until reaching the goal of adding them to all of the academic buildings on the UNH Campus.

Senate Action: Passed with One AbstentionSpeaker Verification:

Student Senate XXXVllI - R 13– Addition of Bicycle Storage and Coverage of RacksIntroduced by: Student Body Vice President, Carley Rotenberg; Student Body President, Jonathan Dean; Campus Structure Chairperson, Zachary S. DumontDate: December 4th, 2016

Whereas, students at the University of New Hampshire frequently use bicycles as a means of transportation on campus, and

Whereas, using bicycles as an alternative form of transportation has been advocated for by many students, and

Whereas, many of these students live in on-campus, residential housing, and

Whereas, 12 out of the 31 residential buildings (39%), do not have an indoor storage area for the large amount of bicycles used on campus, and

Whereas, those dorms are Adams Tower West, Congreve, Fairchild, The Gables, Haaland, Hetzel, McLaughlin, The Mills, Peterson, Scott, Upper Quad-Hitchcock, and The Woodside’s, and

Whereas, some residential buildings that do have indoor bike storage have inadequate space in comparison to the number of residents who live there, and

Whereas, inclement weather can damage student’s bicycles and require students to store their bicycles indoors, and existing outdoor bike racks on campus do not have coverage, and

Whereas, the number of incoming residential students has been decreasing, which creates the availability for one room in the dorms to be converted into a bike room, therefore

Be it resolved by the Student Senate of the University of New Hampshire to request that the Department of Housing investigate converting at least one room in the residencehalls without any indoor storage for the purpose of creating a bike room, and

Be it further resolved to encourage the Department of Housing to investigate possible solutions for the inadequate indoor bicycle storage in residence halls, andBe it further resolved that the Student Senate requests all necessary and appropriate measures to be taken to add coverage for bicycle racks on campus

Senate Action: Passes UnanimouslySpeaker Verification:

Student Senate XXXVllI - R 16– Direct CommunicationsIntroduced by: External Affairs Chair, Sadie Matteson, External Affairs Council; Josh Velez, Sarah Lunn, Ross CareyDate: December 4th, 2016

Whereas, many students recognize the necessity and usefulness of direct communications from the University of New Hampshire (UNH), and

Whereas, the Student Body feels overwhelmed by the magnitude of direct communications they receive, and

Whereas, members of the Student Body receive many direct communications they believe to be immaterial to their success at UNH, and

Whereas, pertinent direct communications are overlooked due to the high volume of communications received, and

Whereas, direct communications have been used for commercial benefit and external promotion nonessential to the success of students, and

Whereas, the subject lines in e-mail direct communications often fail to inform the receiver of the content within the direct communication, and

Whereas, students do not have the choice to opt out of certain direct communications, therefore

Be it resolved by the Student Senate of the University of New Hampshire to urge the University to filter direct communications to only reach the appropriate audiences, and

Be it further resolved to urge the University to restrict the usage of direct communications to health and emergency concerns, facilities, housing, to information related to academics and student life, and

Be it further resolved to urge the University to work with the Student Senate to further address the best ways in which direct communications can be used and implemented.

Senate Action: Passes with One AbstentionSpeaker Verification:

Student Senate XXXVllI - R 18– Hormone Replacement TherapyIntroduced by: Non-Resident Senator 7, Doug MarinoDate: December 4th, 2016

Whereas, the University of New Hampshire (UNH) is “committed to supporting and sustaining an educational community that is inclusive, diverse, and equitable”1, and

Whereas, the UNH Counseling Center provides many services to students at UNH, including access to reference letters for transgender and gender non-binary students to access hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and gender affirming surgeries, and

Whereas, Dr. Lessa Brill and Dr. Jerry Collins of UNH Health Services are trained in this area, and provide care for transgender and gender non-binary students, and

Whereas, students currently have to pay out of pocket for HRT, HRT-related blood work, and gender affirming surgeries because the student insurance plan does not cover these services, and

Whereas, these services can provide a significant financial burden to students, and

Whereas, the total cost of these services would be a minimal financial addition to the UNH Student Health Benefits Plan, andWhereas, lack of access to these services can cause adverse effects on students’ personal and academic lives, therefore

Be it resolved by the Student Senate of University of New Hampshire to request that the UNH Student Health Benefits Plan be adapted to cover health care services for transgender and gender non-binary students, including, but not limited to, HRT, HRT-related doctor’s visits and lab tests, and gender affirming surgeries.

Senate Action: *PulledSpeaker Verification:

Student Senate XXXVIII – R19 Financial Affairs Committee Budget RecommendationsIntroduced by: Financial Affairs Committee Chair, Ian KyleDate:  December 20th, 2016

Whereas, the Student Senate of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) has a strong interest in the financial affairs, both current and future, of the University, and

Whereas, the Student Senate Financial Affairs Committee (FAC) is tasked with evaluating the fiscal responsibility of service units’ mandatory fees annually, and

Whereas, these service units include: Health Services, Campus Recreation, Memorial Union, Transportation, Athletics, Student Activity, Technology, Housing, Dining, Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention Program, and Counseling Center, Career and Professional Initiative, and

Whereas, FAC carefully investigated each of the major fees listed above, and

Whereas, an increase in revenue is often necessary to meet the increase in expenses and the needs of services, and

Whereas, this evaluation entailed numerous conversations with administration and directors of their respective service units, and

Whereas, said administration and directors were brought in to Student Senate to propose and answer any concerns related to their fee budget, and

Whereas, Student Senate oversight is an invaluable tool in the mandatory fee process, as Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18) projections are only a guideline for how the service units will spend revenue, and

Whereas, this evaluation has assured students of the service units’ fiscal responsibility, therefore

Be it resolved by the Student Senate of the University of New Hampshire to accept the recommendation of FAC to approve the Health Services fee for FY18 to a fourteen and a half percent decrease from six hundred and twenty-one dollars to five hundred and thirty-one dollars, and

Be it further resolved, to accept the recommendation of FAC to approve the Campus Recreation fee for FY18 to a two and nine tenths of a percent increase from seven hundred and forty-seven dollars to seven hundred and sixty-nine dollars, and

Be it further resolved, to accept the recommendation of FAC to approve the Memorial Union fee for FY18 to a two and nine tenths of a percent increase from three hundred and eighty-one dollars to three hundred and ninety-two dollars, and

Be it further resolved, to accept the recommendation of FAC to approve the Transportation fee for FY18 to a two and nine tenths of a percent increase from one hundred and thirty- six dollars to one hundred and forty dollars, and

Be it further resolved, to accept the recommendation from the FAC to approve the Career and Professional Success fee for FY18 to be set at one hundred dollars, and

Be it further resolved, to accept the recommendation of FAC to approve the Athletics fee for FY18 to a three and one tenths of a percent increase from one thousand and forty- three dollars to one thousand and seventy- five dollars, and

Be it further resolved, to accept the recommendation of FAC to approve the Student Activity fee for FY18 to a proposed two and two tenths of a percent decrease from ninety- one dollars to eighty-nine dollars, and

Be it further resolved, to accept the recommendation of FAC to approve the Technology fee for FY18 to a proposed three and one tenth of a percent increase from one hundred and ninety-five dollars to two hundred and one dollars, and

Be it further resolved, to accept the recommendation from FAC to approve the proposed three percent increase to Room & Board Rates for Housing in FY18, and

Be it further resolved, to accept the recommendation from FAC to approve the proposed three percent increase to Dining Plans within Hospitality Services in FY18.

Be it further resolved to not approve the Athletics Fee for FY18 to a three and one tenths increase from one thousand and forty- three dollars to one thousand and seventy - five dollars until the Athletics Department can speak to their fee increase.

Senate's Decision:Health Fee: Passed UnanimouslySHARPP Fee:Passed UnanimouslyCampus Rec Fee: Passed UnanimouslyMemorial Union Building Fee: Passes with one nayTransportation Fee: Passes UnanimouslyCareer and Professional Success Fee: Passes with one nay Athletics Fee: See aboveStudent Activity Fee: Passes with one abstention

Technology Fee: Passes Unanimously Housing Rates: Passes with seven naysDining Rates: Passes Unanimously

Senate Action: Motion Passed to Divide the QuestionSpeaker Verification:

Student Senate XXXVIII – R20 Increasing the Amount of White BoardsIntroduced by:  Williamson Senator, Gordon Guilmette, Campus Structure CouncilDate:  December 20th, 2016

Whereas, community whiteboards are commonly used in on-campus housing for educational purposes, and

Whereas, on-campus housing including Randall, the Gables, Hitchcock, Mills, Congreve, Fairchild, and Babcock do not have any whiteboards placed in any of their lounges, and

Whereas, on-campus housing including Williamson, Christensen, Divine, Handler, Gibbs, Lord, Hunter, Engelhardt, Sawyer, McLaughlin, Alexander, the Woodsides, Scott, Hetzel, Haaland, the Minis, Stoke, and Peterson have one or more whiteboards placed in their lounges, andWhereas, the residents of Williamson, Christensen, Divine, Handler, Gibbs, Lord, Hunter, Engelhardt, Sawyer, Peterson, Mclaughlin, Alexander, Scott, and Hetzel have expressed appreciation for their whiteboards to assist with group or personal work, and

Whereas, residents in Hunter, Gibbs, Handler, Haaland, Hetzel, Peterson, Stoke, and Lord who only have one whiteboard in their halls are all in favor of obtaining more whiteboards for more of their lounges, therefore

Be it resolved by the Student Senate of the University of New Hampshire to advocate for the placement of at least one whiteboard in the Gables and residence halls without one by the end of the Spring Semester, and

Be it further resolved that the residence halls and apartments with only one whiteboard, where the residents have expressed need for more, have another placed within their building by the beginning of the 2017-2018 academic year. Senate Action: * PulledSpeaker Verification: