ASUSU holds final meeting
The Associated Students of Utah State University Executive Council held its final meeting of the year. Members passed their responsibilities on to next year’s council.
The council voted to table indefinitely a bill that would help build a help desk in the Taggart Student Center. Celestial Bybee, ASUSU president, said she hopes next year’s council will take the bill into consideration.
“I just wanted to make this an option for next year’s council,” Bybee said.
A one-time cost of $1,500 would be appropriated from ASUSU’s Capital and Support fund to pay for half of the cost to build the desk.
An additional $4,500 would be taken from that fund to set up half of the employment costs for staffing the desk for the 2003-04 school year until it is built into the ASUSU budget for the following year under fixed costs, according to the bill.
The council tabled the bill because of various unanswered questions.
In an open forum concerning the bill, Justin Rees, ASUSU Business senator-elect, said putting $1,500 toward a help desk that might not work may not be the best idea.
Stephanie Kukic, ASUSU Graduate Studies vice president-elect, said members of the council should work at the help desk.
Currently, the only source for student information in the TSC is the Card Office, which has many other functions.
Instead of building a help desk, Cade Davis, ASUSU Agriculture senator, said, the council should give the Card Office a chance.
Johnny Navarette, ASUSU Education senator, said, “This is a great idea for the first two weeks of school. After the first two to three weeks, I don’t find a purpose for it.”
Three years ago, the old help desk was taken down by Housing and Food Services.
Camey Hatch, ASUSU Public Relations vice president, said the old help desk was very well-used.
In other business, the council reconsidered two pieces of amended legislation regarding reading days and faculty evaluations.
Under the reading days resolution, the dead week policy, which requires faculty members to not give any tests or quizzes, or assign or accept any papers and projects during the final week of classes, was dropped. The university calendaring committee was given jurisdiction concerning reading days, and requirements for professors to hold office hours during the reading days period were taken off the resolution. The decision to implement the resolution is in the hands of administrators.
The council also approved an amendment to the faculty evaluations resolution. The resolution states that faculty evaluations will not be discontinued on the Internet. Previously, the bill stated that such evaluations will be discontinued until Nov. 1 as a means of improving the way information is presented.
-mmackay@cc.usu.edu