Florida Junior Community College Student Government Association
State Conference, Tampa Hilton, Tampa Florida, February 11-14, 1999
Santa Fe C.C. Head of Delegation
John M Jones III

Thursday, February 11, 1999

Manditory Candidate Meeting
All State Executive Board Candidates met with the state advisor. At this meeting Candidates were required to submit a record of all campaign expenditures. Marianne F.(State Advisor) advised all candidates of the commitment it is going to take to be a FJCCSGA Officer. She also asked if any one of the candidates were going to pull out that now was the time to do it. All candidates were informed, by the Elections Committee chair, Anthony Rivera, of the rules of the election process and went over the speaking schedules for the Presidential, Vice-presidential, and Secretarial candidates.

Keynote Speaker, Micheal D. DeRosa
Mr. DeRosa is the President and Leadership consultant for Smile & Think, Inc., Leadership Programs. According to Micheal, "Leadership starts in the mind, motivation starts with a smile, and love starts in the heart...but effectiveness starts with education."

Initial Issues Presentation
Heads of Delegations and Advisors met to hear the first presentation of the issues that were to be voted on by the conference participants. The issues are as follows (see also attachment 1.):

I. Tuition and Student Fees II. House Bill 1545 III. Bright Futures IV. Student District Board of Trustees Member V. Access to the Baccalaureate Degree VI. Peco Funding VII. Technology Fees VIII. Eligibility for Elected SGA Office IX. Federal Financial Aid

Eleven constitutional Amendments were presented to the entire assembly by, District III Coordinator, Anesha Thomas.
(see attachment 2.):

Elections Committee Chair, A. Rivera, announced the candidates for State Executive Board. They were as follows:

President-- Allesandra Thomspon

Vice-President--Jabri Fowler, Tommie McGuire

Secretary--John M Jones III

Lecture and Entertainments Showcase
Joe has helped over 100,00 students find their purpose, maximize their potential, and live more responsibly. Through his high-impact, high-energy style, he has become recognized as "One of America's Top Motivational Professsors." He is the founder and president of "Real world university" (www.rwuniversity.com), a student success resource center designed to help you meet the challenge of college.

Entertainment from: "Comedy Buffet, an inprovisational sketch comedy group; Robin Greenstein follows the traditions of James Taylor, creating terific original music while also playing homeage to folk, blues, and rock music of the past; Bill Fry's Comedy in the Air, an original, fast-paced, and funky comedy juggling with lots of audience participation and fun.

Friday, February 12 1999

Presidents' Breakfast/Candidates Visit
The Presidents/Head of Delegations met for breakfast allowing all four candidates to kick off the day with a a few words about why they are running for FJCCSGA Office.

Educational Session I--Understanding Your Constitutional Amendments
This workshop presented the 1999 proposed resolutions, the workshop stated the purpose and rational for the amendments. There was a limited discussion of the amendments. Members made mention that some of the amendments were very serious and asked that all those in attendence to make sure their delegation was well informed about the amendments.

Educational Session II--Leadership Ethics
"What should I do?," a lively, interactive presentation on leadership ethics on campus. Members learned to identify a range of ethical issues in campus life, make ethical decisions in any situation and reaffirm a commitment to having the highest ethical standards. Educational Session III--The Art of Listening/Understanding Others..
The presenter explored the common pitfalls which prevent us from effectively listening to others, and reviewed listening skills and strategies used by leaders in every field. It was guanteed to raise our understanding of others to help us be understood.

District IV Meeting/Candidate Visit
Each Candidate visited District 4 for up to ten minutes to speak or answer questions from the delegates. Other items brought to the floor were tentative plans for the District IV Leadership Banquet to be held at the end of the term, proceedures regarding communicating the Issues and constitutional amendments in a timely manner to all the Community Colleges in the district. Candidates for Members met District Coordinator candidates (see attachment 3). District IV and Conference Shirts were distributed to the Heads of Delegations for all the delegates who attended the conference.

Candidates and Issues Forum
An informal gathering of all candidates with delegates by the poolside. this gave the members the chance to meet their candidates up close and personal.

Dinner/Candidate Speeches

Over the day questions were submitted to elections chair, A. Rivera, and during this time were asked to all candidates. Roughly four questions were asked of each candidate.

Saturday, February 13 1999

Pajama Voting
FJCCSGA Executive Board Candidates, Issues, and Amendments were voted on by the delegates.

Educational Session IV--Your SGA On The Internet
This workshop was taught by the Secretary Candidate, John M Jones III. It specifically dealt with how you could use a web page to promote SGA and it's activities. The workshop included Educational Session V
Educational Session VI
Keynote Speaker, Jayme Feary
Grassroots Workshop: Where Do We Go Now?
District Elections/FJCCSGA State Officer Run-off
Formal Award Banquet
Mardi Gras Party

Sunday, February 14 1999

Executive Board Breakfast (old and new)
Swearing in of New Officers/Final Session

I. Tuition and Student Fees--In 1998-99, students enrolled in the Florida Community College system paid and average of $1,309 in student tuition and fees for taking 30 credit hours. This amount was a 7% increase over the previous year's tuition and fee rate. The Florida Legislature would like to raise tuition and fees another 7% for the 1999-2000 acedemic year to approximately $1,400. The national average rate of community college tuition and fees was $1,595. A. Do you support the 7% proposed increase for tuition and fees recommended by the Florida Legislature for the 1999-2000 acedemic year? YES_____17% NO______83% B. Do you support an annual increase of student tuition and fees for the next three years so that students are paying 25% of the cost of their community college education and the State of Florida is paying 75%? (note: Students currently pay less than 20% of the cost of their education.) YES_____11% NO______89% II. House Bill 1545--In 1997-98 set limits on the number of times you could take a college credit course(two times) and a college preparatory course (one time) before being required to pay the full cost of instruction (which is equal to the out-of-state tuition and fees rate). A. Do you prefer that the limits on the number of times you can take a college credit course and a college preparatory course before you are required to pay the full cost of instruction remain the same as indicated in the current house bill? YES_____24% NO______76% B. Would you like the limits on the number of times you can take a course before you are required to pay the full cost of instruction leveled to two attemps for each? YES_____73% NO______27% III. Bright Futures--The Bright Futures Scholarship program is escalating in cost each year at such a high rate that the State of Florida will be forced to put spending limits on this program. The scholarship program currently has two levels. The Academic Scholarship requires a 3.5 GPA and 1270 SAT or 28 ACT. The Merit scholarship requires a 3.0 GPA and a 970 SAT or 20 ACT. A. Do you support raising the Merit Scholarship Requirment to an SAT score of 1100 and also raising the ACT score for new high school graduates? YES_____39% NO______61% IV. Student District Board of Trustees Member--Do you support having a student serve as an ex-offico members of your community college's District Board of Trustees? YES_____95% NO______5% V. Access to the Baccalaureate Degree--State Legislatures are considering various options to allow students to more easily enroll in programs that earn a bachelor's degree. A. How would prefer to have greater access to (carning?) a bachelor's degree?     I would prefer to have the community college that I attend be given authority to offer programs where students may earn a bachelor's degree. Prefer_____50%     I prefer to have existing colleges or universities in the State of Florida offer classes toward a bchgelor's degree on my community college. Prefer______50% VI. Peco Funding--Public Education Capital Outlay funds are used to construct new buildings and renovate existing facilities for public school systems, community colleges and universities in Florida. This year, there is a 34% shortfall in PECO revenue, so each institution has been asked to cut their PECO projects for 1999-2000. A. Do you support the Florida Legislature replacing the shortfall in PECO funds with state revenue that was not allocated last year? YES_____77% NO______23% VII. Technology Fees--I support the addition of a technology fee that would be added to the total cost of my community college tuition each semester. This new fee would be used to purchase new technology to enhance the learning process on your campus. YES_____53% NO______47% VIII. Eligibility for Elected SGA Office--A law exists in Florida which states that "Each state university and community college student government shall establish a process to provide for the removal from office of any elected student government offical who has been convicted of a violation of criminal law or has been found civily liable for an act of moral turpitude, after all available rights of judicial appeal have been exercised, waived, or have expired. The process shall include a proceedure for the immediate suspension of the student government offical from the elected office following the conviction or civil finding and during any appeal, and shall provide for the temporary successor to the subject office pending the completetion of any appeal. The process must include a proceedure for registered students to petition for a referendum recommending to the Student Government Association the removal of a student offical from elected office" A. Do you support this law as it is currently written? YES_____29% NO______71% B. Would you like to see this law repealed? YES_____63% NO______37% IX. Federal Financial Aid--Currently students can only use federal financial aid to purchase textbooks and supplies at the campus bookstore. A. Would you support federal legislatio proposing that students be allowed to purchase textbooks and supplies at off-campus sites with their financial aid? YES_____83% NO______17% 2. Constutional Amendments All amendments were authored by Anesha Thomas Amendment #1 Resovled, that the FJCCSGA Constitution shalL be reorganized and have the following order: Article, Section, Part A,1,a, and so on. ---PASSED Amendment #2 Resolved, that the FJCCSGA Constitution shall be amended to correct these errows and/or unclear sections and they will (be corrected) as follows (Proposed changes bolded): Article III, Section 2, Part 1 The Parlimentarian, Segeant-at-Arms, and Historian shall be non-voting members of the Executive Board. Article III, Section 3, Part 1 [college preparatory hours cannot be counted towards the nine hour minimum.] Article III, Section 3, Part 3 The State Sergeant-at-arms, Parlimentarian, and Historian are exempt. Article III, Section 5, Part 1, g Serve as an alternate voice of FJCCSGA when authorized by the FJCCSGA President. Article V, Section 1, A Falsifies any documents tesifying to the eligibility requirements to run or hold office or, Article IX, Section 3, Part 3 Voting members of the Executive board shal receive one[1] vote each. The Executive Board members vote seperately from the FJCCSGA member college/campus that they may attends and are not to be counted among the delegates of their respective schools Article X, Section 2, E An attached paper detailing the reasoning by which the vote arrived at shall be attached and sent to all FJCCSGA member colleges/campuses, the chair of the FCCAA Presidents' Assembly.... ---PASSED Amendment #3 Resolved, that Article III, Section 5, Part 1, b shal be amended to state the the director of Legislative Staff shall compile the list of issues fifty-five (55) days prior to the conference; and Resolved, that Aritcle III, Section %, Part 1, c shall be amended to state that the Issues Packet shall be distributed no later that thirty-five (35) days prior to conference ---PASSED Amendment #4 Resolved, that Article IV, Section 1, Part 1 of the constitution shall be amended to include the election of the four (4) district coordinators; and Resovled, that Article V, Section 2, Part 1 of the Dristrict By-laws shall be amended to include the election of the District Executive Board to take place at the conference. ---PASSED Amendment #5 Resolved, that Article IV, Section 1, Part 2 shall be deleted and its concents will be moved under Article VI, Section 1, B ---PASSED Amendment #6 Resolved that Article V, Section 2, C shall be amended and specify the process of Jurisprudence impeachment will now be established such that: (1)The Jurisprudence Committee Chairperson shall notify the charged officer within seven (7) days of the reeipt of the request; and (2) The charged officer has (14) days to answer to the charges before the Jurisprudence Committee; and (3)The Jurisprudence Comittee shall render its decision within (21) twenty-one days of the charged officer's answering and/or the expiration of (14) days. ---PASSED Amendment #7 Resolved, that the constitution and the District By-laws shall be amended so that the President of FJCCSGA will appoint a Jurisprudence Chairperson, with the approval of the Executive Board, and the districts will continue to elect one representative and one alternate, with the alternate voting only in the absence of their district represntative. ---PASSED ***CONFLICT*** The Jurisprudence may not be able to remain UNBIAS because of this amendment. An appointed position could be classified as a BIAS in itself. The Jurisprudence committee should remain unattached to the people they could make judgment for or impeach. ***CONFLICT*** Amendment #8 Resolved, that Article IX, Section 1, Part 2 shall be amended and state that the FJCCSGA members colllege/campus must send at least one delegate to the conference to cast financial burden proxy votes; and Resoved, that Article IX, Section 4, Part 2 shall be amended and state that the delegate present may cast financial burder votes on all issues, resolutions, amendments and all other items on the ballot, excluding candidates for elected offices. ---PASSED ***CONFLICT*** Amendment 8 conflicts with the FJCCSGA Constitution Article XII, Section 2, A & B which states that the constitution and By-laws may be amended at any (1) one conference by two-thirds and a majority vote respectively of DELEGATES PRESENT, therefore, financial burden proxy votes are NOT allowed on constitutional amendments ***CONFLICT*** Amendment #9 Resolved, that the FJCCSGA By-laws shall be amended to state that if any candidate exceeds the $200 limit for their campaign, the said candidate will be disqualified for not adhering to campaign regulations and will no longer be eligible to hold a FJCCSGA elected or appoined position office for that fiscal year. ---PASSED Amendment #10 Resolved, that the (g) and (i) shall be deleted from Article V, Section 1 of the FJCCSGA by-laws. ---PASSED Amendment #11 Resolved, that Article 1 of the FJCCSGA by-laws shall be amended and include a Section 4 with procedures to fill any elected ofices of the state and/or district Executive boards for which no election applications are recieved; and Resolved, that Section 4 shall state: 1. In the event that there are no election applications received for a FJCCSGA or District Executive Board position, the FJCCSGA Executive board may extend the application deadline to a later date at their discretion; and 2. If there are any FJCCSGA Executive Board positions not filled following the election of officers at Spring Conference, then the incoming Executive Board shall have the power to appoint persons to the vacant positions; and 3. If there are any District executive board positions not filled following the election of officers at Spring Conference, then the current (incoming?) district coordinator of the said district may nominate persons to fill any vacant seat and, with the approval of other members of the FJCCSGA and District Executive Board, those persons may be appointed. ---PASSED 3. FJCCSGA State and District Candidates President--D'Allesandra Thomspon Vice-President--Jabri Fowler, Tommie McGuire Secretary--John M Jones III