April 23, 2010

SITSA Minutes of the Meeting Held on April 23, 2010
Venue: Boyce Building
Time: 12h35pm
The meeting was chaired by Brittany Smith.

I. Updates:
• It was stated that there might be another request for funding.
• Barbara admitted that there would be budget cuts which were still in progress and that the SITSA would be informed of such when they happen. That was her response to the speculations already by the other neighborhoods.
• ISAP reported that they would have a farewell party off-campus. They also had a T-shirt up and coming by the first week of May or even on the day of the race scheduled for May 1st.
• IE reported they would appreciate submission of the recipes for the coming event.
• MAT reported that TPRS workshop was well attended and that they were happy few of PIM group members had been part of the workshop.
• SD reported that they also have a T-Shirt underway.
• Matthew reported that he had a hand-out from Brandon, but wouldn’t distribute as that was not the agreement.
• Jess volunteered to be part of the students’ representative in the discussion to be held estimated to last for a maximum of 3 hours. This is in reference to hiring a new Dean and the interviewing process.
• A letter was to be written asking permission to have a student on the interviewing panel.
• Also, Jess and Matt were going to decide among themselves who would disseminate blog information to the students, so that students could easily see SITSA minutes, as well as know that they can come to any and all meetings.
II. There was a suggestion to have a dinner meeting and the set up was to be as follows:
• Discussion of issues that would be tabled and then dinner coupled with socializing
• Discussion will be focused on the role people play, inclusive language in the constitution, and the need for representation.
III. It was stated that SITSA would be the platform to get the voices from the SIT community heard. SITSA should be an outreach where there would be an open time of interaction, though the final decision would still have to be made by SITSA.
IV. Brandon:
• Met with MAT rep.
• Handed out a draft letter that explained in brief what he presented on April 16, 2010. The letter was read and given an expanded explanation. The draft of the letter was kept for record as reference. He left the email address for more inputs into furnishing the draft letter. Brandon was going to setup a Google Doc for SITSA members to use.
• Brandon mentioned he would appreciate that SITSA could stand by the burning idea he had said to representing the MAT, in particular for collective consensus from MAT community. He stressed that he would respect the SITSA’s rule in that regard.
V. Tony gave an insight on the following:
• Hiring people of color from the alumni would be a privilege and seen reasonable.
• He indicated that they had been successful in the previous years.
• He also mentioned that should any vacancy other than that of the TA arise, it would be relevant for the alumni MATs and PIMs to consider them.
• He even enlisted few names of those who took part for shorter periods of approximately 3 years.
• He emphasized that their presence was a great influence and experience, though they left due to varying reasons.
• He, then, shared with the SITSA members that he wished that the relationship would be sustainable.
• He hoped that something could be done for the sake of MAT program.
VI. Any Other Business
• Brandon emphasized that the draft letter he distributed had a view of his concern. He also showed that he wanted the matter to be initiated collectively than to be taken individually.
• Recommendation: That Brandon should hand in the final letter to SITSA that it would be taken to the neighborhoods/communities. From a discussion of about 5 minutes, follow up would be made in the coming weeks and to receive official votes.
• It was agreed that there would be objective thoughts around the matter. Again, it was highlighted that there should be someone to report and give clear, distinct roles the MAT Faculty had to do.
• The suggestions were shelved for the coming weeks, but other technology like googledot.com would be used to quicken the pace of review.
• It was also said as an advice that as the community representatives we should be transparent to share everything discussed with the communities we represent.
VII. The meeting ended.
Minutes compiled by Moloko R. Kgare Date: April 29, 2010
(Internal Communications & ISAP Community Rep)