By Josh Hughes
Last year, during AS elections, a whopping 1,748 students voted for the proposed restructure in AS operations. While that number might seem shockingly low compared to the student body of 15,000, only 88 students voted against the referendum (yes, this is due to low voting turnout, but that’s another story altogether).
This means that over the remainder of 2017, the SRC (Structure Review Committee, not to be confused with SRC- student rec center) will spend the entirety of their meeting time preparing a new outline for the future of the Associated Students, referred to in proposals and documents as ASWWU. The process, which will be implemented by the end of September 2018, includes significant changes regarding how the AS will perform as a cohesive body.
While the SRC is in the middle of making important decisions regarding the fate of the student organization, here’s a rundown of the notable changes students can expect to see in the next couple years, as taken from the new AS Constitution:
Though the AS currently runs as a singular body, the restructure involves forming three distinct parties from within the AS: the Executive, the Senate and the Program Council, each of which will contain distinct responsibilities and expectations relating to the student body at Western. The purpose of the AS will still center on representing students at Western and providing opportunity for leadership development within the community, but the restructure aims to make these goals more robust and clearly defined.
The Executive, which will make up a majority of the existing AS, will be composed of positions such as AS President, Vice President for Diversity, Vice President for Governmental Affairs and Vice President for Sustainability, the last of which marks a new student position that does not currently exist in the AS. These positions make up the heart of annual AS elections, something returning students will know well.
The Executive will serve as representatives of AS to university administration, the Board of Trustees and other agencies. The board will have power to appoint student reps to committees throughout campus, and the board will keep the responsibility of voicing the student body’s concerns and interests. If this sounds familiar, it’s probably because this constitutes pretty much exactly what the AS Board does, and has done, for some years. Interesting changes start to arise when considering the other two categories of the proposed AS.
The AS Senate does not exist in the current AS. Likely the largest restructure in the proposal, the AS Senate will function as a student-led body that will specifically focus on academic affairs within Western.
“The ASWWU Senate seeks to increase student awareness and involvement in the academic affairs of the university and represents students through positions on various academic committees,” reads the proposed constitution for the new AS, which can be read online through the AS website at http://www.as.wwu.edu/elections/referendum/aswwu-restructure/.
The Senate will be comprised of students from every college and, like the current AS Board, the students elected will serve a one year term. The only caveat is that students will only be able to vote for senators in colleges that they are currently enrolled in. This hopes to create a well-rounded Senate that accurately represents interests of all students at Western, regardless of their field of study.
Lastly, the restructure also includes a proposed Program Council that will provide guidance and direction for co-curricular programs and student activities. This would mean that every department, including facilities-based, such as Lakewood, will have an opportunity to have one representative on the council. The goal of the Program Council would solely focus on coordinating a wide range of inclusive student activities, programs and organizations.
The proposed constitution also includes a segment on “centralized services”, or issues and topics that extend beyond one of the three AS departments. These sorts of “services” will largely entail financial and operational functions, and a combined board of the different branches will be able to vote on these overlapping topics.
It’s important to note that this proposed constitution for a restructured AS will supersede previous governing AS documents, making the restructure an even more notable transition in the future of Associated Students and Western as a whole.
While the SRC continues to meet to create and decide upon important bylaws for the different branches, students can expect a similar AS experience this coming school year to previous years. Once the committee finishes their work and the new structure is implemented, students will be able to approve or disapprove the specifics of the new AS sometime in Spring 2019.