Code Blue
When he began campaigning in the spring of 2005, Spencer Watts said his main goal was to get the newly organized academic senate up and running. After working with students and administrators, Watts said new concerns were brought to his attention which caused him to redirect his focus.
“My goals changed,” he said Tuesday.
A significant amount of his time was spent on revising the student code, he said. Watts decided to make changes after he was notified by a student accused of cheating who had no way to appeal it. After hearing of this student’s distress, Watts said he was motivated to create an appeals process for people in similar situations.
For his service as the first Academic Senate president in Utah State University history, Watts has been selected as The Statesman ASUSU Officer of the year.
The Executive Council has passed the code, and it is currently being reviewed by other committees. Watts said he is pleased with the progress.
“It was a long-time coming,” he said.
Watts was selected by The Statesman staff for his continued efforts and focus on the future of Utah State University. He served on the provost selection committee and the Tier II tuition committee.
With three semesters of college remaining, Watts said he has thought a lot about returning to campus politics and is “not opposed to the idea.” He said he has enjoyed his experience, but is looking forward to exploring other outlets. He said his Executive Council position was very time consuming, with a usual workday beginning on campus around 8:30 a.m. and ending around 8:30 p.m. In addition to classes, Watts attended the Executive Council meeting and Academic Senate meeting each week.
Watts, a business/finance major, said he’ll work at an on-campus lab over the summer, then plans to graduate from USU and work for a year or two before returning to school to get his master’s degree.
“I’d love to come back to Utah State,” he said. After that, he hopes to own his own business, though he isn’t sure what kind.
Watts’ ASUSU position was created when the Executive Council and Academic Senate were reorganized. What was initially one body was separated into two separate entities, allowing the senate to focus on academics and the executive council to focus on administration, he said.
His experience has been very different from what he anticipated, but has proven to be very fun, he said, noting that working with administration, faculty and fellow students has been especially great.
The North Logan native said even though he participated in student government in high school, his mom was surprised by his campaigning for college government.
College of Agriculture Senator Cody Bingham said he and Watts ran Senate meetings and sat in on Executive meetings together. The two worked together on legislation and Bingham said he loved it.
Watts took charge of his office and set goals, Bingham said. “He’s just a great guy.”
Over the school year, Bingham and Watts spent a lot of time together, and Bingham said it is time that he will miss.
There are a lot of great Executive Council members, Watts said, so the decision to make him the Statesman’s ASUSU member of the year must have been a hard one.
-mof@cc.usu.edu