IV.
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STUDENT
ASSGCCIATION
EMPOWERING THE STUDENT VOICE
Student Association Board of Finance
Final Meeting Minutes
April 28", 2020 — 8 PM
Video Conference
Call to Order and Roll Call
Approval of the Minutes
1. McCracken — Motion to approve the minutes
i. Zhang - Second
Public Comment
1. None
Transition Report
1. Transition Binder
i. This is for Amy and Tanner. You guys are veterans because
you are both two-year appointees. That means you will get the
transition binder. That will include the budget, the budget
certification, and your first meeting’s agenda. Looking back on
the constitution, Tanner will be Acting Chair and Amy will be
acting Vice Chair. The Chair must be from Senate and Vice
Chair can be anyone. So, you two will assume those roles until
there is an election. I will send an email with everything in the
folder. For everyone else, you will receive a copy of all of the
files in the shared drive, so we have a record of everything.
They will be given to Shannon and University Archives for
filing. I will also include the budget template for student groups
and the PowerPoint for when it comes time for the mandatory
budget meeting next year. Please reach out to me if you need
anything next year; I reached out to Subha many times and she
helped me. I will help all of you.
ii. McCracken — We will get physical versions of this in the fall?
1. Yes. Everyone will get every record. In case you get
FOIL-ed in the future you will have it.
Farewell Remarks
1. Purvish Patel
1. You guys did a great job this year. I really respect that.
Keep it up. I am excited to work with you.
2. Amy Zhang
i.
I wanted to say that this has been one of my favorite teams to
work with. ’ve been on a number of teams. Even if we
disagree, we stay respectful. I am super proud of what we’ve
been able to accomplish despite it all colliding in the beginning
of the semester. I hope Tanner and I can continue that energy
next year. Please don’t be a stranger. Owen, you can come
back!
3. Tanner McCracken
i,
ii.
Thank you. I want to go back about disagreements. There were
disagreements and we all had different perspectives. If you go
to the voting records and the minutes, I disagreed with the pack
a lot. I appreciate the respect on controversial issues. We stuck
together and worked as a team. When we did the financial
investigation, we had the president come in for the first
testimony. That really was not an easy day. The way she was
acting was really tough to sit through, but we all stood together
and remained professional. We got through it. We were a team
through it all.
There’s a reason I am here and have this voting power. The
reason I’m here is Owen Howard. When I first joined Senate
after winning the special election, it was Owen Howard and
Nick Gonzales sitting behind me in the very first meeting. I was
honestly nervous to say “present” in opening roll. I didn’t know
if they were making fun of me or if they were joking with me,
but when I said present, I heard them say “Let’s keep it
Cracken!” Tony, Owen and Nick used to all sit together. I used
to sit all alone, because I was nervous in the beginning. In the
fourth or fifth meeting they invited me to sit with them and I
felt welcome. It was great because going into the next year,
Owen became the Chair of Appropriations. He was originally
pushing for me to be on the committee. When I told him, I was
interested in running for vice chair, we had a long phone call
where he hyped me up and coached me. He prepared me for my
election and helped me with my lines. He has been there for
me. It was really disappointing when I found out he was
graduating, but he vouched for me to be on the Board of
Finance. This was very important to me. We were friends and
colleagues. It felt great to take over your seat knowing that you
trusted me to fill those big shoes. Shout out to Owen Howard
for the record!
iii. For everyone else on the Board, it was a pleasure. We adapted
and we evolved. Let’s be real, at one point there were only 6 of
us on the Board of Finance. We made a lot of sacrifices to meet
quorum. We all put in a lot of work and I really respect that.
Amy and I will make sure we keep that up next year—great
energy and work ethic. This is what makes our student
government better. At the end of the day, it’s 3 million dollars
so we need to take this seriously. It’s very important. I
appreciate you all.
4. Ivan Daquial
i. Thank you everyone for being so patient with me. I didn’t even
know Board of Finance existed last year until the end of my
second semester of being a Senator. I didn’t know if it would be
for me. I was so hesitant, but I was so excited to do the work. I
learned a lot. I’m so excited for next year’s leadership. I won’t
be here next year but I’m so excited for everyone.
5. Owen Howard, Former Chairman of the Appropriations Committee
i. Thank you for inviting me. I’m happy for another meeting.
When Nick Gonzales and I were in the Senate, we saw your
slogan “Let’s Keep it Cracken” and thought it was great. When
it came to Senate, you made fun out of it instead of making fun
of it. Nick and I would joke that we would’ve ran for President
and Vice President together if we didn’t graduate early. I see
you guys as a Board automating with how you will operate next
year. I’ve always said there’s two parties in SA and you can’t
quite put a name on it--- but you guys all worked together
regardless of that. The growth in this group is astronomical.
Purvish as the first international senator, then he went to
appropriations, and now he is a member of the Board of
Finance. Molly is now a senator which is great. I’ve always
believed that Senate is what you make of it. You can come in
once per week for the meetings. You can join a committee that
meets only a few times per semester. OR you can go above and
beyond, which is the reason you’re all in this call. You guys are
the people behind the scenes actually making this organization
run. I can go on and on, but the proof is in the pudding. I know
we say that you don’t get your degree from SA but make sure
you’re using this experience in your future. You managed 3
million dollars out of 7 students in the entire school. Not many
people can say that. There’s life after this. You’ll use the skills
you learned here. Tony went from a Senator to Comptroller.
Senator to Comptroller! It’s a huge leap. That’s someone who is
one of the hardest workers in the room and paved the way to
automate this process of what we do. Tony, your growth is nuts.
There are so many things I could say. I could go on and on, but
thank you for having me back.
6. Sabra Simon, Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee
i.
Not present
7. Tony Kelley, Comptroller of the Student Association
i.
ii.
First and foremost, I am extremely proud of all you and your
hard work. Especially in the climate of Student Association this
year, to be surrounded by so many competent individuals is
amazing. You disagree but you are so respectful about it. We
have gone at each other’s necks this year, but it was always in a
professional way. I commend you all for acting like adults. You
will all go so far. I have never seen such a high degree of
competence for anyone. This is by far my favorite team to work
with. We do everything right. Our board is so diverse. Our
Chair is Latino, our Vice Chair is a woman, we have an Asian
American woman, we have a black woman and an international
senator. It’s amazing. We all respect each other’s view. This is
not a common trait among other boards. Thank you for being
there for the students and not your personal interests. I love
how you hold each other accountable but maintain the
positivity.
Remember that a person is not defined by what they go
through, but how they react. It’s not always what you go
through that makes you who you are. You know that you’re
always going to get jabs at you. There are things you need to
explain to people, and other things you don’t. How you react is
up to you. At the end of the day, the people put you in your
position or you came in on your merits. Stay true to who you
are, and that’s all that matters. You don’t need to prove
anything to anyone. Not everyone is going to be happy or
understand the decisions you make all the time. Take care of
yourself first. These are positions that can consume us. Patrick
Carroll told me the first day I became Comptroller that you
don’t get your degree from the Student Association; you get
your degree from the University at Albany. I know that sounds
cliché, but it is so true. I became so consumed in this job. 1am
so consumed that my advisor hunts me down in the SA office to
have meetings. My professors tell me that they have seen me at
Senate. At the point where your academic support system
knows you that well, it’s important to take a step back. My
resume says the same title and same job description whether I
worked 45 hours or 20 hours. Prioritize your time and take care
of yourself. You can’t take care of others until you take care of
yourself. It is okay to be selfish.
iii. I don’t think there has ever been a financial branch-- Board of
Finance or Office of the Comptroller-- that has ever gotten so
much done. Everything that this Board and my office has
pushed through is insane. Between the internal controls, the
investigation, and the financial reforms—all while making the
budget-- We have gone through the most tumultuous and
turbulent times ever. I went from a legislator to an administrator
and had to learn it all on my own. We went through so much
with personnel changes—we had the campus designee change,
problems with UAS, the gap of time before we got the Board
fully established. It was a struggle, but I would not have wanted
to struggle this much with anyone else. I am so proud to have
gone through that struggle with you all. I know that I am
demanding but you all had a respectful way of going about
things. You guys built me up when I was down. I am so proud,
and I know you will take over the world. Don’t listen to what
everyone says because if I did that, I wouldn’t have finished out
my term. There will be so many people to put you down in life
but do not listen. Defy the odds. I love you guys. I will forever
be your support system.
8. Molly Donelan, Vice-Chairwoman of the Board of Finance
i. I want to commend you all for all work that we did together. I
want to thank you all individually. Purvish, it was really hard
this year having only 6 active members and trying to get
quorum in important meetings but you’ve been very reliable.
You came in during a pandemic which is unheard of. After
seeing everything that the Board of Finance went through this
year, the fact that you wanted to come on board is very brave
and I commend you for it. If I was a senator looking at
everything that happened in the last year, I might be afraid to be
take part in it. Board of Finance is not for everyone and it takes
a lot to commit to it. Amy, I look up to you as a leader. You do
it all! You’ve organized town halls, meetings with university
officials and kept the whole executive branch afloat without
ever complaining about your workload. I can only hope to be
half as good of a leader as you are. Tanner, we disagreed on a
lot of things, but it always stayed respectful. If you look back at
the minutes there are a lot of things that we agreed on as well. I
am really glad that you were on the Board of Finance. At first
when Owen left, I was worried because you came onto the ship
while it was sinking. Your first meeting was a very tough way
to start but you kept a positive attitude and you were committed
to the work. I have a lot of respect for that. You can also keep
track of where we are during motions which is really helpful.
Even when everyone in Senate is groaning over it, you don’t let
it phase you. I am so glad that you and Amy will be on the
Board of Finance next year. Ivan, I find it so funny that we
were messaging on Facebook the summer before freshman year
wondering about what the dorms would be like. Now here we
are after formulating a $3 million budget together. You are an
incredible person and you work so hard. You always made me
feel welcome in the Student Association and always kept it
light during the hard times. Owen and Tony, you both made me
feel so welcome in the beginning of the year. When I first
joined the Board of Finance, I was new to Student Association
as a whole and I didn’t know a lot of the things that I know
now. You were both really patient with me and explained things
to me. Never once did I feel judged for not knowing something.
Owen always provided information about what was done on the
Board of Finance in the years prior. I really appreciate that. I
wouldn’t have been able to learn as much as I did if it weren’t
for you. I’m not sure whether or not I will be continuing in the
Student Association but if I do, I know I will be well prepared
because of you two. Tony, I’m heartbroken that you are
graduating. You were so patient with me and would sit with me
in your office explaining everything—what things meant in the
bylaws, what all the purchases on the credit card statements
were. For everything that could be explained, you would take
the time to explain it to me. I remember this conversation we
had after you left Pam’s class about the different types of
leadership. We realized we are the same type of leader—the
gatekeeper. I am so glad that I was able to learn so much from
you. Anytime someone would come at me, you would be the
first to defend me. That’s something very admirable about you.
Anytime you would try to convince me to change my mind
about something, it never involved personal attacks, and that
goes for all of you. Sam, I don’t know where to begin. We’ve
been best friends since freshman year and lived on the same
floor two years in a row. This year has definitely been good
preparation for what the rest of our lives will look like. We
always joke that we will be both be working on Capitol Hill
together and hiding from the press. I don’t want to cry but I
would’ve never been here if it hadn’t been for Sam. I was
interested in finance before this, but it was Sam that got me into
the Student Association. I really wanted to be on the Board of
Finance and Sam was the first person to tell me that I could do
it and told me the steps I needed to take to get appointed. When
I wanted to be Vice Chair, Sam told me that I could do it. We
did it together. I’m so happy with the work we did together. I
wouldn’t have been able to do it without you by my side. I love
you all. I know there were times we disagreed, but I wouldn’t
have had it any other way. Please keep in touch.
9. Samuel Salazar, Chairman of the Board of Finance
i.
Iam going to try hard not to cry. It’s been quite a privilege to
be your chair this year. When I set out to do this, I didn’t expect
for us to do what we did this year. I’m glad to we did the work I
can confidently say this has been the best Board of Finance in
the history of the Student Association. I hope our two veterans
Amy and Tanner can keep up the energy. To start off, Purvish
thank you so much for coming onto the team. Although it was
very short notice, I really appreciate your work ethic. I’ve heard
that the President-elect is considering reappointing you for next
year. If she does, I am confident that we will have wonderful
veterans. My favorite clip is on the Senate Instagram of you
doing the renegade with the Appropriations Committee; I know
Tanner agrees. Thank you for joining the team. Amy, you were
a wonderful Chief of Staff. You were the voice of reason and
sometimes you were the lone voice in the room. You never
stopped standing up for what you believe in. You showed us
what it means to lead a diverse board using your training from
the Multicultural Resource Center and showing us how to
approach things. I thank you for your work ethic. You’ve
helped us tremendously. I’ve heard from your groups that you
were an amazing liaison. Thank you so much for the work you
put in. Bring that same energy, bring that same passion, bring
that same voice into next year and you will succeed. Mr.
McCracken, our first interaction was when you woke me up
from a nap in my Indian Quad dorm while you were
campaigning. Ever since then, I have really grown to admire
you. You speak from the heart and speak for people that feel
like they don’t have a voice and I respect that of you. We get
along 99% of the time. When we disagree, it can get intense,
but we have shown great respect for one another. I consider you
a close person in Senate. Another moment I’ll treasure is when
you asked my advice when you ran for Vice Chair. It made me
feel old, but it also made me feel hopeful for the future that
someone like you would be taking my place. As for the Board
of Finance, you joined right when we were doing the
investigation and had the energy. All of the groups loved you.
You brought energy and ideas. I like Roberts Rules, but you are
the master and I appreciate it. Thank you for your service and
thank you for being here for me. I wish you luck next year and
keep it Cracken. I wish you and Amy the best. Mr. Daquial,
another great Vice Chair. Thank you for your service. All your
groups loved you. You brought humor to some pretty grim
times. You made lots of jokes in the room that would make us
laugh while we were going crazy. Thank you ivan for all the
work you’ve done and for being an amazing Vice Chair
especially during a pandemic. Mr. Howard, I don’t know where
to start. We were both in Senate when I got elected in the fall
and you were elected in the spring of last year. We didn’t
interact much until the last part of the year. Youre an amazing
person. The work you put into Appropriations was
indescribable. I can’t thank you enough. I didn’t know a lot
about Board of Finance and I always had to ask what you did in
the year earlier You encouraged me to run for Chair. I really did
appreciate that. Even though you graduated you are still part of
my team. You’re the best.I know she isn’t here but I wanted to
take the time to say a few things about Sabra. She took over as
Chair of the Appropriations Committee when Owen left and did
a fantastic job with the student groups. She’s been a tremendous
help when we needed to know something that happened last
year. Her groups loved her. That was really well done on
Sabra’s part. She was really supportive to me and everyone on
the Board of Finance. She also taught me a lot about fashion,
most importantly. I hope to see her with her own brand one day
because I will buy it. Tony, I don’t know where to begin. One
of the things I did as Senate Vice Chair was try to memorize
everyone’s names and faces. I didn’t have to try very hard with
you because you always had something to say. You were a very
well-spoken Senator, as well as Tanner and Owen. Tony you
spoke from the heart. You didn’t speak left or right; you spoke
bylaws. You did what was right for the Senate and what was
right for the Students. I remember when the Board of Finance
last year chose you as comptroller and you came into my office
saying you were worried. I told him not to be worried because
the Board of Finance chose him for a reason. But after that, I
was worried because Tony was asking me for advice. We went
into Senate ready to fight and he ended up getting unanimously
approved as he should’ve been. Moving forward, when we
came back for the next year, he planted the idea of Board of
Finance Chair in my head and I decided to do it. I can
confidently say you have stood by my side through everything.
You were there for me. Appropriations was Tanner, Owen, and
Jeff Shapiro. One of my most memorable moments in Senate
was when your committee was having problems. Brandon and I
had to settle you guys down. Tony, when you became
Comptroller and I was in SORC I only received positive
feedback. The groups were happy with how fast their PRs were
processed. In my time in SA, you are the only comptroller to
actually go to events and know all the groups by face and name.
You changed many policies for the better. You learned how to
manage SA in the way it should be managed, and I am
confident that no one has come close to it. 1 commend you for
coming to the Board of Finance when it came time for the
investigation. It was a tumultuous time. Thank you for trusting
us to tell us the red flags. It’s not easy to trust a group of people
to listen to all of that but thank you for building that trust with
us. One of the things that I loved was that I could always go
into Tony’s office and we could rant together. We had a lot of
respect. You were the best Comptroller in history, and I could
always come to you for anything. You were always available by
text or email. Congratulations on your graduation, but it is sad.
Student association will miss you. I cannot thank you enough
for the work you’ve done. If we didn’t have the pandemic, I
would’ve had a ceremony to show our appreciation. Every PR
or credit card statement or I wanted, I got it. Every time I
wanted to know about Dippikill or the investment account I got
the information. I can’t thank you enough for your service. It’s
sad that this wonderful journey has come to an end. One that
the things hit me hardest is when you said you would put me as
your supervisor contact for an interview. I was ready to have an
hour-long conversation with any employer because I would say
nothing but the best about you. Your dependency and reliability
are unmatched. I want to thank you on behalf of the Board of
Finance; however, we did a review and we suggest that you get
some sleep. Take time for yourself. Get a massage. Celebrate
this proud achievement. There is nothing more you deserve
than to get more sleep. We are all proud of you. We all love
you. We will always be a Tony supporter. Whether I you were a
Senator or Comptroller your work is amazing. Thank you,
Tony. Molly — Thank you for being there for me. Molly was my
right hand. I could count on her for anything. If I was running
late, I could always count on her to start the meetings. We’ve
been friends for a long time; I was crying laughing when she
mentioned the Facebook group with Ivan. I remember when she
asked me if she should join the Board of Finance and I urged
her to do it. Molly was very well qualified on her merits and
always speaks her mind. Thank you for being there for me
during the investigation. I know that it was a lot on both of us
and I know that it was a lot to produce 120 pages of writing. I
really commend you on the minute taking. This has been some
of the most organized minutes the Student Association has ever
seen. Thanks to you, we can go back and see what we did this
year. Thank you so much for the time you dedicated and for the
work you did. Thank you for being good friend to me. We’ll
see each other on Capitol Hill. One of my favorite memories is
when the press was chasing me and Molly around, and we had
to run back to Dutch Quad. I will miss that. I will miss when we
were planning everything behind the scenes together. Thank
you for being a good person to talk to and for being a good
resource. Thank you for everything you’ve done for the Board
of Finance. You’ve done an amazing job as Vice Chair. No one
can speak to the amount of work you’ve put into the Board of
Finance. One of the things I really admirable about is that
you’re straight to the point and you ask the direct questions.
You don’t mess around and I like that. We need more people
like that. It’s good how you always got right to the facts. Molly
again, thank you. For all of you, thank you so much for being
professional. I am so proud. During the investigation, we all
brought in different viewpoints and we remained a team. It
wasn’t Sam’s investigation, Tanner’s investigation, or Ivan’s
investigation. It was the Board of Finance’s investigation. I’m
proud to say we worked together. The same things go for the
budget. We clashed and had disagreements, but we produced an
exemplar budget. I hope other SUNYs are looking at the way
we did our budget. I thank you all for being professional and
tolerating me; I know I changed things up. I want to thank all of
you. I want to talk about Pam. Pam has been our new campus
designee and she been an amazing resource. Molly and I met
with her regularly in the fall, and she was a great resource for
us. Thank you for being a great partner with us and helping us
through the tumultuous times. It was your first year as campus
designee, but I can say you have seen the most tumultuous
times in Student Association. I thank you for the service you’ve
done. I want to thank all of you as a Board of Finance. The
work you’ve done won’t be forgotten. All of it will be in
University Archives. The work you’ve done is amazing.
Everything we have done, in my opinion, should be displayed.
We’ ve brought professionalism to the Student Association
while being students at the same time. I know there’s a popular
phrase that SA doesn’t give you your degree and it’s true. All of
you balanced school, Board of Finance, and Senate. Thank you
so much. I could never be more grateful This was such an
amazing team. One of the biggest things I took away from this
is that even though I was the Chair of the Board of Finance, I
was never anyone’s boss. I was just a facilitator. Everybody
here made the Board of Finance what it is. I’m proud of you all
for bringing your experience into this. My final piece advice to
my two veterans- keep this energy up, keep it Cracken. This
energy needs to be continued because we need good people to
run SA that are also good full-time students. Please keep the
energy up; tell them Chairman Salazar demands it. I wish you
the best of luck to make next year’s Board of Finance excellent
and professional. Most importantly, make sure the student’s
money is spent responsibly. That’s our job. I hope you continue
to do it. I couldn’t be prouder than each and every one of you. I
would’ve done something more special if we didn’t have this
pandemic.
VI. Student Activities Report
1. Pamela Alexander, Associate Director of Student Activities, Campus
Designee
i. Thanks for inviting me to the love fest. This was good for my
soul. This was everything I didn’t know I needed. I appreciate
all of the words. I echo all of the words. There were some tears
in my eyes. One of the good things that came out of this is
realizing some of what hasn’t existed in the past. Moving
forward we can use some of these technologies. Tanner and
Amy, I can be there for you even if I am not physically with
you. I can’t wait to be spending more time with the Board of
Finance. What you all do it brilliant. You’ve shared that
sentiment with one another tonight. I’ve enjoyed hearing that. I
share in that sentiment. The University shares in that sentiment.
The work you do is important. It is smart and thoughtful. The
work you put into it is amazing, more so this year than many
years. It has been quite the roller-coaster. Every month is a
challenge. I’ve been so impressed with everyone’s work. Next
year the Board of Finance will be faced with many challenges
with the budget next year. We have a ride ahead of us. My
thanks to the work of this Board. Let’s buckle up and get ready
for the next phase. Congratulations to everyone and thanks for
all that you do. You brought some tears to my eyes tonight. I
appreciate your words for each other. Recognizing each other is
important. Tony, I’m glad you listened to me in my class!
1. Zhang — How do you do it all?
a. Comptroller — She does it all! As the Director of
Student Activities, she oversees everything. It is
not an easy job. I hope I’m as great as you. Iam
proud to have you as my advisor. I proudly tell
people that you are my advisor.
2. Alexander — To you stretched thin leaders, everything is
a balancing act. You should make plans and find the time
for yourself. You need to take care of yourself. It doesn’t
always work out well. Sometimes you need to walk
away. Look out for your stress signals; they materialize
differently for everyone. At some point, there could be
burnout up ahead. Make sure you have that balance.
“Doing it all” is great but remember to check in with
yourself.
VII. Closing Roll and Adjournment Sine Die
1. Donelan — Motion to adjourn Sine Die
i. Zhang — Second
The Board of Finance 19-20 is Adjourned sine die.
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