ASUSU discusses changes in book return process
USU bookstore representative David Parkinson and John Mortensen, USU Registrar, approached ASUSU with a proposal to e-mail students about buy-back pricing for textbooks at the ASUSU Executive Council meeting Nov. 9.
He said the bookstore has been working with the campus IT department on a feature to inform students of pricing and other information for selling back their used books. The function is possible now because of bookstore’s recent purchase of a system that includes a customer relations database.
This means about 24,000 students would receive an e-mail from the bookstore regarding the books associated with classes the student is enrolled in. The e-mails will be sent out one to two days prior to buy-backs beginning, which begins Dec. 9 this year.
“We are pretty close to functionality of this new service,” Parkinson said. If the feature is ready, e-mails would be sent Dec. 8.
Mortensen said this will help money come back to the university and keep students purchasing through the bookstore, which ultimately helps keep student prices low.
The council also initiated detailed discussion of ASUSU election bylaws. After meeting with advisers, public relations director Lacey Nagao brought the potential legislation changes to the executive council for a vote. The changes discussed included an increase of candidates’ grade point average to a 3.0, ethical concerns, laptop and wireless-capable device usage, and residence hall calls during elections.
The council decided to keep the current grade point average, a cumulative 2.5.
The council voted to move the information on the ethics portion of elections to the beginning of election information packets. Also, ASUSU and student services employees will not be allowed to publicly endorse any candidate while on the job. It was said that employees should encourage students to make an informed vote. The council also passed a rule against slandering or bribing other candidates.
Policy regarding the visiting of student residences or “residence hall calls” was changed so candidates may no longer enter the homes of students unless invited in. Students who do not want candidates entering their residence will be able to download a “stop” sign that will inform the candidate they have already voted or wish to not be bothered. If any student is alone, a candidate may not enter the residence. Also, candidates may now request an escort while campaigning.
The usage of laptops and other wireless Internet-capable devices by a candidate’s “A”-frame, or on-campus display, was heavily debated, and votes by the council regarding this manner were not unanimous. Some council members felt that voting at a candidate’s station is unethical and led to students being bullied and pressured.
“It’s better to have quality votes than a quantity of votes,” Nagao said.
Concerns about voter turnout took precedence over the idea of eliminating “A”-frame voting and implementing voting booths across campus instead. Some council members said having people vote, at “A”-frames or elsewhere, was better than not having them vote at all.
The meeting also saw the beginning of discussion for a possible reconstruction of compensation for ASUSU positions for next year. Executive Vice President Brent Crosby said ASUSU is dealing with an $80,000 deficit, roughly the same size as this year’s arts and lectures budget. The council discussed ways of cutting costs and eliminating overspending, such as capping the amount of tuition paid to each ASUSU position, eliminating the Graduate Studies Senator from the Executive Council and the benefits of scholarships versus stipends.
– jessie.a.sweat@aggiemail.usu.edu