Students and ASUSU leaders examine necessity of new international position
International Student Council (ISC) president Christian Orr submitted a bill to the ASUSU Executive Council (ASUSUEC) on Nov. 16 proposing the creation of an international vice president position. The council voted to rewrite the bill, changing the proposal from a full member to an ex-officio, or non-voting position. The modified bill is scheduled to be addressed in tomorrow’s council meeting.
Representation
“There are approximately 16,472 students attending the Logan campus of USU,” Orr said. “Of those students, 1,069 are international students attending USU. This means that about one out of every 15 students are international. For those 1,069 students, student life is different.”
According to the Office of International Student Services (OISS), the last time an ASUSU executive council position was designated for the ISC was in 1962. Orr said since that position’s elimination, the ISC has been working toward once again being more connected and represented within the ASUSU executive council, especially in the past 15 years.
“The focus of ASUSU tends to fall with American minorities and overshadows the international students,” Orr said. “My intention is to create the unity that we have lacked.”
Diverse vs. international
Orr, who was elected ISC president in September, said he feels there is a large distinction between diversity students and international students. He said diversity students are those with American citizenship or dual-citizenship. International students are those who do not have American citizenship.
ASUSU Diversity Vice President Kaho Fiefia said: “I don’t believe there is a distinction between international students and students from USA. The word ‘diversity’ represents all students no matter what or who they are. There is no distinction between their color, sexual orientation, background, socioeconomic status, and religious beliefs.”
ASUSU executive vice president Brent Crosby, who sponsored the bill, said he absolutely sees a distinction between international students and Diversity students.
“Diversity covers individuals who are ethnically diverse – mostly American minorities,” Crosby said. “The biggest difference I see is entirely different cultures. An African student from Ghana is entirely different than an African American student from say, New York.”
Crosby also said they were worried that creating a new vice president position would encourage other groups to also petition for vice presidential positions.
Anthony “T.J.” Pratt, who is a member of the ASUSU Diversity Council and this year’s Mr. USU, said he feels like international students are adequately represented by the diversity vice president position.
“‘Diversity’ isn’t a specific term,” he said. “It’s not, ‘oh there’s multi-cultural for international students and then there’s multi-cultural for American students’ – ‘cause then we’d just be segregating.”
Pratt said he doesn’t see any benefits to creating either a voting or an ex-officio position.
Crosby said the biggest reason for creating a position was to integrate international students with the students on campus.
“Right now it’s like they are on their own island,” he said.
He said it would be an enormous responsibility to cover such a large group of international students on top of the 260 clubs that fall under the diversity vice president’s stewardship.
Funding
Orr said one of the bill’s original purposes was to give the ISC direct control of its funding, rather than receiving its funding from the Diversity VP. He said while international students pay around $7,283 per semester in tuition and fees, none of that money goes to the ISC for programming. As an ex-officio member, the ISC representative would not have direct control over ISC funding.
Fiefia said: “The funds that the ISC uses to operate comes from my budget made up of student fees. In the past it has generally been $9,000… I have now only transferred $4500.00 to the ISC which is half of what was given to them in the past. For them to receive the second half of their funds they will have to give a full accounting of what they used the funds for this semester. This is not asking too much considering that these funds come from students’ pockets.”
Communication
During the bill’s presentation, Orr suggested one of the main problems with having international students under Diversity was communication. Orr said it had been very difficult to contact Fiefia, and that as a result ASUSU does not know about the ISC’s programs. Orr said this often results in ISC events being under-promoted and under-attended. Additionally, he said, ASUSU programs are often scheduled during already-planned ISC events.
Fiefia said he and his council had tried many times to contact the ISC, but that phone messages and e-mails were often not returned, or returned too late to meet his council’s timeframe. Orr later said he would be interested to find out what address the e-mails had been sent to, and that most of his phone calls to Fiefia went unanswered.
Academic vice president Tanner Wright said, “If there is any problem – which it has been addressed that there is – it should be worked out through them.”
He said, “I think there is a difference between Diversity and international, but I think international students fall under being diverse.”
Erin Reeder, who served as last year’s ASUSU programming vice president, said, “The diversity vice president is not the only avenue for a student who’s international to voice their opinion. We have the student advocate as well as all the academic senate members who represent their respective colleges. So there are plenty of mediums for voicing your opinion if you make the effort to do so.”
She said, “If you want your voice to be heard, you will take the appropriate actions for it to be heard, and sometimes you need to go in sequential order… . If they want to forge a relationship, they need to put forth the effort and respect the system.”
She said the discussion “inspires a separation of people rather than a unification.”
Reeder said if she were still on the executive council, she would want to see more effort to communicate on both sides before addressing the bill.
Orr said while the diversity vice president has allocated an international student chair on his committee, the chair is currently being filled by an international student that is not on the ISC. During the bill’s presentation, Fiefia said this, too, was due to communication problems.
Voting
The original bill stated that the new position would be elected only by international students. During the bill’s reading, some concern arose about the potential of a double vote for international students. Council members questioned whether it would be fair to the entire student body if international students were represented through their colleges, the Diversity VP, the Student Advocate and the new International VP position.
Orr said, “My council has been reputed for working unethically for the idea of a multiple vote. We are not trying to create multiple votes, but one direct voice.”
Kayla Harris, former traditions director and this year’s ASUSU elections co-chair, said having an International VP was a great idea, but all students should be able to vote for the candidate, rather than just international students.
“I feel that every other position on ASUSU represents a certain aspect of student life. Just because it’s an international student doesn’t mean they can’t represent every student at Utah State,” Harris said.
“I would consider myself international with my travel and foreign experience,” she said. “I feel strongly about the ISC and the role that they play on campus and the role that international students play, and I would want to vote … I include myself in them. Just because I’m American doesn’t mean I’m not international.”
Executive council
ASUSU President Tyler Tolson said, “I think the bill shows positive steps in a direction worth continued exploration. I don’t think the conversation of international representation is over; especially with the university’s efforts of a global campus.”
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