ASUSU Executive Council denies proposal to create new VP
The ASUSU Executive Council turned down a proposal to split one council position and create another at their regular meeting Tuesday night.
Sonina Hernandez, Organizations and Campus Diversity VP, proposed a bill to split her position in two, creating an organizations VP and campus diversity VP. The bill was co-sponsored by Academic Senate Pro Tempore Matt Anderson.
Both officers believe the work described in Hernandez’s charter is too much for one person – specifically the work in the Council of Students Clubs and Organizations. They think the work done with CSCO would be better handled if it was the only job of a VP.
“The whole purpose of this is to be more personal with the student body,” Hernandez said. “CSCO hasn’t been functioning as it’s been run for the past couple of years.”
Hernandez has two board directors – one for CSCO and one for diversity. Public Relations Director Casey Saxton agreed the set up is better than it was.
“Last year I served on the Diversity Council with Sonina,” Saxton said. “It was a mess. The time it takes to update club info is long and monotonous. The setup now is much better than what it was with a separate CSCO board and diversity board.”
Though the bill was well-received, initial concerns dealt with funding a scholarship and stipend for a new VP position.
Initial concerns presented dealt with funding a new VP position.
Hernandez received support from Graduate Studies Senator Brittney Garbrick. However, instead of dividing the position and creating a new VP, Garbrick suggested Hernandez and her directors find an alternative.
The most common alternative discussed was to better compensate the CSCO and diversity directors. They receive a $300 stipend per semester.
Another alternative brought up by Programming VP Thomas Rogers was allowing an online program deal with CSCO. According to Hernandez’s presentation, many other universities use this system.
The problem with using a software program are the costs.
“It would be cheaper to pay a position and have stipends than to pay for Org Sync,” Hernandez said.
When presented to the Academic Senate on Monday for support, the majority voted against it.
Hernandez wanted the change to be in the special election next week.
“This isn’t a new idea, this has been floating around for the past five years and no one has pushed it,” Hernandez said.
In other business:
-Fiefia appointed hearing board chair Nan Coon.
-Student Advocate Daryn Frischknecht announced the bill changing parking rules discussed last week is tabled until December.
Twitter: @daniellekmanley