FiCom Meetings, JanTerm 2011 Minutes

During JanTerm 2011 FiCom is meeting:

Thursday, January 6th, 5:00 - 7:00 (Open to the Community)

Thursday, January 20th, 5:00 - 7:00 (Open to the Community)

Sunday, January 23rd, 12:00 - 4:00 (For Internal FiCom Discussion &amp; Planning)

Sunday, January 23
Agenda:


 * Review of Fall Spending: Fall Numbers
 * Spring Funding - Initial Funding
 * Review General Information Form
 * COCA's Preliminary Budget Request
 * Signer Seminar - February 6th at noon
 * * Food $
 * * Preregistration Form
 * * Presentations
 * * CLA Ideas
 * * Our Ideas: Breakout Sessions - Signer Seminar Questions
 * * Confirm Make-Up Dates
 * Role of the CLA
 * Officer Roles and Responsibilities
 * Final Questions / What Steps Can We Take

Attendance: Sarah, Nick, James, Nelson      Absent: Nathan (Excused), Rebecca


 * Main purpose of today is to review fall spending and discuss the future of ficom
 * Signer Seminar


 * Feb 6th
 * Multiple little presentations have been the method of purveying information in an effort to retain attention
 * There has been no sustainability of new groups recently, all but five have disbanded
 * $1000 have been approved, the CLA has found an option costing and extra $300, the CLA could cover it or we could fund it
 * We decided to fund it
 * Preregistration form for attendance and hoodie size needs to go out in the next several days
 * Should we ask what people want to see in signer seminar?
 * Breakout sessions to keep:
 * Seasoned signers
 * New signer session
 * Should we have discussion groups based on questions?
 * How do you envision the roles of ficom and coca?
 * How can ficom help you be more efficient?
 * Pam Tinto wants weekly coffee sessions for signers
 * COCA, hampedia and risk management will be part of the discussion groups


 * Fall funding presentation


 * We spent all but $43317 of the SAF allotted in the fall
 * Over half of the funding in the fall was permanent funding
 * Most permanent funding gets lighter in the spring, so there will be more money available for rolling funding
 * Halloween ticket reimbursement
 * Only Holyoke hasn’t gotten the money back to us yet
 * We have close to $15000 back
 * The miscellaneous category should ideally be stricter to avoid overlap, as most of these requests could fit into other categories


 * All accounts are going to be zeroed out and the money cannot be spent on spring funding


 * No zeroing out of recent funding because it might not have been spent yet


 * COCA Budget


 * The approval rate of funding for last spring was 47%
 * COCA is anticipating more requests this spring than last, therefore would need more money
 * Project needing approximately $40,000 for events not including spring jam
 * COCA will come by on Thursday to talk about it
 * The budget looks solid and accomplishable
 * Spring Jam
 * Should be comparable to Halloween pricing


 * Food and Trip caps


 * Not many complaints about the food cap
 * The trip cap seems a little bit low for some trips based on lodging
 * If we can’t touch contingency at all, then we probably cannot raise the cap
 * Based on rollover and potential contingency spending it might be possible to raise the trip cap
 * Sarah motions to officially impose $3 per person food funding and will increase the trip funding as feasible
 * Nelson seconds


 * Sarah motions to approve $75 in initial food funding, and $5 in advertising funding


 * Nelson seconds


 * Discussion of trip request procedure
 * Officer Roles


 * Director
 * Sets the agenda
 * Reviews requests ahead of time
 * Communication with signers, CLA and COCA ahead of time
 * Another director elect is needed as Sarah is going abroad
 * Financial Director
 * Funding requests during meetings
 * Looking at account numbers
 * Meeting with Marie
 * Keeping an eye on spending and individual groups and trips
 * Reports on monetary trends and projections
 * Community Liaison
 * Outreach
 * Taking Notes
 * Advertising
 * Checking up on concerns with student groups
 * Council Liaison
 * Maintains relationship with council in terms of communication between groups
 * Could someone from council be on ficom?
 * Officer elections on Thursday


 * Broad Discussion about FiCom


 * What are the benefits of joining ficom/how can we get more people to join ficom?
 * How can we increase outreach to promote understanding of what ficom does?
 * Look to first years and students with previous experience in governance
 * Should we have some sort of community event to get people engaged with ficom?
 * It’s possible that there are fewer concerns because of fewer/no ‘scandals’ or controversy
 * Stipends probably would ensure the continuation of ficom, but only to the point of having all officers at all times, not a full group of voting members and non-voting members
 * Sarah: good job with equitable funding and group /individual work. Ficom needs to be demystified and reach out more to the community
 * James: our transparency is great, but not much of the community knows how to find our transparency. We should find efficient ways to increase group awareness of common mistakes to prevent their repetition
 * Nick: the problem with attendance might not be related to inaccessibility, it could just be apathy in which case it will be hard to solve. Perhaps more engaging advertizing?


 * Individual work by each member


 * James: initial funding for spring
 * Nelson: feedback from general information form
 * Sarah: signer seminar presentation

Thursday, January 20
Agenda:


 * Review Funding Requests
 * * Red Scare Trip - Signers Coming In
 * * Umoja Trip - Signers Emailed
 * * Contradance Trip
 * Review Pending Funding Requests
 * * Hampshire Confucius
 * Fall Numbers
 * Review "General Info Form"
 * * Groups that didn't fill it out
 * EPEC Coordination
 * Meeting with COCA / Meeting with the CLA
 * FiCom Inbox
 * Signer Hoodies - Final Design Review
 * Council Info Request Form
 * Signer Seminar - Preregistration Form / Make Up Dates
 * *Note: Signer Seminar on February 6th, Hampfest on the 9th
 * Housing Budgets - Review
 * Recruitment
 * Plan for Sunday Retreat

Attendance: Sarah, Nick, James, Nora, Nathan (late) Absent: Nelson, Rebecca


 * Red Scare is here


 * $787 per van for transportation to Georgia is the high estimate: $3120 total for the vans
 * Approved
 * Fundraising is $325 so far this year, more profit possible from disc sales and tournament
 * About 30 people will be going
 * Discussion about trip funding policy
 * We’ll get back to them about a fundraising goal for this semester


 * Submitted Requests


 * Miscellaneous Requests
 * EPEC
 * Pended
 * Trip Requests
 * Equipment Requests
 * Publication Requests
 * Additional Food Requests
 * Xcalibur
 * $190 per meeting
 * 70 people per meeting
 * $760 for one month
 * Approved
 * Fund Transfer Requests


 * Pending Requests


 * Miscellaneous Requests
 * Trip Requests
 * Contra Dance is here
 * Trip pended based on attendance issues, new request being written
 * UMOJA
 * They have received $600 for their trip and found cheaper lodging
 * The price is now $100 per person
 * Emailed saying that we will approve, we just need a final headcount
 * Update: they could have up to 20 people come
 * Approving $1125 (for 15 people)
 * Equipment Requests
 * Hampshire Confucius
 * Television for Spiritual life center
 * Next step is talking to the director of the spiritual life center
 * Publication Requests
 * Additional Food Requests
 * Fund Transfer Requests


 * Three groups have emailed about wanting to be recognized after the deadline, what should we do?


 * They are:
 * International socialists organization
 * The big skunk ape collective
 * Community council
 * Possible options:
 * Probation
 * Not allow them to be recognized
 * Allow for recognition as long as the form is filed before the spring semester starts
 * Best option
 * The three groups in question need to email us their information and meet with us before they get funding in the spring
 * We have contacted them all individually


 * Nora is going to be leaving, and Nick is unsure of being able to be an officer for next semester
 * We will discuss officer responsibilities later
 * Got an email from an environmental group/mixed nuts about a potential trip, told them to submit a trip request on Zoho
 * Need to arrange a meeting with COCA and the CLA


 * Pam Tinto wants to know some dates that would work for a meeting with us and her and COCA


 * Nick will edit the back of the hoodie to even the lines of the logo, then we will order them
 * Council wants to know about our meeting times and our officers soon
 * We will deal with the design conspiracy combination of funding with an email
 * Signer Seminar


 * James is free for a make-up signer seminar on the 12th
 * We will have another make-up meeting on the 15th


 * Large postering campaign for more attendance as well as daily digest posts


 * Also we should make our table interesting at hampfest
 * Reach out to economics and math professors about more interested students for ficom
 * Consider stipends as incentive for officers and a full committee?


 * We reviewed the housing budgets and saw no immediate concerns with the use of the funds


 * Money left over:
 * Prescott: $464
 * Merrill: $370
 * Dakin: $1316


 * Reader Budget


 * The book will cost $4950 to print 800 books with black and white covers and color pages
 * It was $6500 last year
 * Admissions will donate $200 for some books
 * Alumni relations will contribute
 * 50-70 get sold but students love them and get them for free
 * Might need some money up front for shipping to alums but that is all their budget for the next semester

Thursday, January 6
Agenda:


 * Review Funding Requests
 * * Red Scare Trip
 * * Contradance Trip
 * FiCom Inbox
 * Signer Hoodies
 * Signer Seminar
 * Housing Budgets
 * "General Info Form: &amp; Spring Semester Funding

Attendance: Sarah, Nick, James, Nora, Nathan


 * Submitted Requests


 * Miscellaneous Requests
 * Childhood youth and learning group
 * A day at Hampshire college program
 * $1690, but only requesting $200
 * Collaboration with CYL and the center for feminisms
 * CYL is a department, but this event appears to be apart from a singular department
 * Approved
 * SPICI
 * Want to bring an Israeli soldier to Hampshire to talk about his experiences
 * Telling them to submit this event to COCA
 * Red Scare
 * Requesting $3119 for 3 12-passenger vans for the trip to Georgia
 * Pended: want to talk about fundraising and funding for the whole trip
 * Trip Requests
 * Contra Dance
 * 2 vehicles and 8 people
 * 265 miles
 * Want $1350 total
 * We can cover the admissions price: $400
 * We can cover $600 based on the $75 trip cap
 * Pended: need to look for better lodging rates and better housing options
 * UMOJA
 * Black solidarity conference at Yale
 * 166 miles and 2 vehicles
 * Expect 15 people to attend
 * Want $1550 for admission and lodging
 * 4 rooms for 15 people
 * Any cheaper lodging?
 * UMOJA is here
 * Received funding last year
 * Not for vehicles
 * Sleeping conditions were subpar last year
 * Cannot stay at Yale this year, it’s too late
 * No light switch or lock, etc
 * Want to open the event up to the whole source community
 * Fundraising?
 * Want to go to offices around the school for help
 * $1025 would cover admission and most of the lodging
 * What can they do to raise money and find lodging?
 * Would be willing to have more people per room
 * Suites might lower costs based on fitting more people in
 * Pending: based on lodging concerns and fundraising
 * Contra Dance
 * Concord in Greenfield
 * $8 per person, $200 total at an estimated 3 people per dance
 * Should come in and talk about a spring budget
 * Approved
 * Equipment Requests
 * Hampshire Confucius
 * Want a community tv and dvd for the spiritual life center
 * Why can’t spiritual life pay for it?
 * Do they have permanent funding?
 * Denied: request is for an office with permanent funding, when it is replenished during the spring semester can they use that to pay for their tv?
 * Updated request: Spiritual life gets $3000 per semester, and if the price is divided amongst the groups it is under $40 per group.
 * Pended: What is the pressing need for the tv in spiritual life? Can you get a cheaper tv that will bring the cost under the permanent funding cap? Will all of the groups be active and need a television? What about holding meeting in places on campus that have televisions already?
 * Publication Requests
 * Request via phone from the reader?
 * We’ll look into it
 * Additional Food Requests
 * Asian media requesting food
 * $48 dollars per meeting
 * Want four meetings in January
 * $192 for the month, under food cap
 * Approved
 * Hampshire Confucius
 * Three meetings in January
 * $135 for January
 * Approved
 * Yiddish Language Club
 * $25 per meeting for 10 people
 * 100 total
 * Approved


 * Inbox


 * We got a hoodie design
 * We are going to email the hoodie guy about color choices and the designer about adding Hampshire to the design
 * Email from CLA regarding checking in about signer seminar and food
 * How much are we willing to spend for food?
 * About $1000 dollars is the cap so we will tell them that
 * We have found that the black sheep will cater at $2.50 a lovely assortment of pastries and bagels


 * Housing budgets


 * We need to audit the housing budgets
 * We will do this in the next meeting once we get all of the reports


 * General information form


 * Deadline is the 17th of January
 * We will send out 1-2 more reminder emails
 * 52 groups have responded
 * Feedback:
 * Primarily positive
 * Some groups had individual problems
 * Communication is key
 * Food groups should know they can spend more than $3 per person