The New School

2009 02 04 Minutes

USS Meeting Notes:
February 4, 2009

Official Attendance:
Peter Cummings
Elizabeth Lorran
Dan Schulman
Heather Sheridan
Yoni Sunshine
Ben Fox
Aleks Malejs
Sarah Cunningham
Hendrick Cho

Guest Attendance:
Aidan Gardiner
Katherine
Dave Shukla

Barb Teed has resigned from the Secretary position because she is no longer on campus.

What do we want to do with the secretary position?
Elected Members unanimously vote for rotating note-taker instead of paying someone.

Should we suspend Kate Griffin from qualified voter total because she has not shown up for the last 3 meetings?
Unanimous Yes.

Should we suspend Barb Teed for the purposes of reducing quorum?
No,  but we will make an attempt to establish an online connection with Barb for future meetings.  – Unanimous Yes

Spending Proposal for new USS office furniture ($200):
Peter will email a list with prices.

Paid office hours are being questioned by the university for work-study, therefore we cannot set up official office hours.

Elizabeth Loran will write up a draft budget for next year’s $90,000.  This will be discussed for the next meeting.
Yoni Sunshine proposes that we budget a scholarship for next week.

Official Full-Board Trustee Meeting (Scheduled for February 11, 2009):
Hendrick Cho thinks that we should push for the idea of representation on the board of trustees in addition to adding student space.  There is not enough time to speak to address all the issues.  Unanimous agreement.

Subcommittee Trustee Meeting (scheduled for February 12, 2009):
This meeting is to address students concerns (and also to address the student protest/no confidence in President Kerrey).  Peter thinks that we should use this medium to address our complaints.  He thinks that the subject matter of what is said is separate from the full-board trustee meeting.

Peter proposes the USS support a 5000 square foot student area to the board of trustees with the support of President Kerrey.
Peter will draft proposal and send it to everyone via e-mail.  Vote on hold for next meeting.

Yoni proposes that we should ask for 10 representatives on the Board of Trustees.
Straw pole will not support 10 reps.

Peter proposes 5 total members on the board of trustees: 1 USS rep, 2 students elected at large, and two recent alumni.
Passed 6 yes, 2 no (Yoni, Ben: They want more members proposed)

Funding Proposal for Leadership Conference for this weekend at the New School that would cover speakers fees ($1000):  (Dave Shukla)
Unanimous 8/8 for $800.  Peter will write a letter to Roger Ward requesting partial reimbursement.

Yoni Proposes the USS as a guarantor for Net Impact Group ($300):
Unanimous 8/8

Hendrick proposes $40 for labor for videotaping USS meetings and posting them online for students to access:
Will be discussed next week.

Peter asks to accept the members of the Committee on Demonstrations Policy:
Eric-John Russell
Aidan Gardiner
Meaghan Linick-Loughley
Agnes Karoluk

The USS has no objections to the candidates that have already been named.

Sarah Charles will not be able to attend the trustee subcommittee meeting.
Hendrick will ask Doris Suarez, the Secretary of the University, if Dave Shukla
can take her place.

Sarah wants volunteers for the Housing Committee.
Peter volunteered.

Peter reports back on Provost Committee: Discretion advised.