The AS Board poses on Friday, Oct. 5. Ella Banken//AS Review
By Soleil de Zwart
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees had a special meeting on Monday, Nov. 5.
Dining and housing was initially on the agenda. Millka Solomon, AS president, asked for Shred the Contract to be a part of the discussion. Shred the Contract is the student-run campaign that advocates for the removal of Aramark from Western’s on-campus food system. The Board of Trustees moved the dining and housing section to the December meeting’s agenda, along with Shred the Contract, according to Solomon.
The construction contract for Anatomy and Physiology labs ended up being the only action item on the agenda, according to the Board of Trustees agenda.
Waterfront Ideation
Western purchased property in the Bellingham Waterfront District and is currently deciding what to do with it. Solomon is the only student in the Waterfront Ideation Group.
It would be inconvenient to move some administrative functions to the waterfront, Solomon said.
Solomon is thinking about writing a letter to the editor of the AS Review to ask students about what they think should be placed in the waterfront for her to bring to the Waterfront Ideation Group.
Student Senate
Filing for Student Senate positions has now opened.
“We’re almost out of election packets, we’re going to have to print more,” Levi Eckman, VP for academics, said.
An email went out on Friday to all students announcing the Student Senate positions. All information is at as.wwu.edu/elections including the election code, job description and bylaws. Eckman will be creating a FAQs list and adding it to the site as well.
Legislative Affairs Council
The Legislative Affairs Council received proposals coming from Western students, which were looked through and vetted, Henry Pollet, AS legislative liaison, said.
The Washington Student Association general assembly will include legislative agenda items such as loans for undocumented students, state need grants, and student debt. The assembly took place at Western, Nov. 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The general assembly shows what college level legislative priorities look like from all of the state of Washington, Natasha Hessami, VP for governmental affairs, said.
There will be representatives from all four-year state schools in Washington.
College of Science and Engineering
The chemistry department lost two of its faculty of color within three months, according to Hessami.
“Historically underrepresented students in WWU’s College of Science and Engineering have expressed frustrations regarding lack of resources and support that are promoting an ongoing toxic climate within the College of Science and Engineering and hindering their academic success,” Hessami said, in an email to the CSE.
Pollet sent an email to Brad Johnson, dean of the College of Science and Engineering, as well as Merrill Peterson, chair of the Biology department, Provost Brent Carbajal and a few others.
Pollet has taken the stance that he will be continuing to support students in CSE. Pollet is taking tangible steps by creating a list of demands for CSE. Most of the items of their list are free and can happen with meetings and emails, Hessami said.
The list of demands includes departmental meetings dedicated to inclusion and equity, student representation on faculty search committees, faculty attendance to diversity and inclusion training, and more, according to a letter sent by Hessami to CSE.
“We got Carver because of student lobbying and we need student lobbying to get this,” Hessami said.
Restructuring VP for Activities
One aspect of the AS restructure is redefining Ama Monkah’s position, VP for activities, to include a student union board. This board would aid the VP for activities with events and programming on campus.
Monkah is currently in discussion with Eric Alexander, associate dean for student engagement and Viking Union director, and doing research to see how other universities program their activities office, Monkah said.
Rebranding the AS
Another part of the restructure is rebranding.
At Communications Committee, there was discussion about rebranding the AS, because there are so many offices and they aren’t very cohesive, according to Monkah.
“There are 13 different logos for the AS,” Eckman said.
This change is to make the logos more cohesive and to make it more clear that these offices are all a part of the AS, according to Monkah.
Plastic Bottle Ban
Anne Lee, VP for student life, met with Gwen Larned, zero waste coordinator. Larned wants the plastic water bottle ban to be institutionalized as a policy. Right now, it’s banned as an agreement with the AS. They already redrafted a policy, but Melynda Huskey, VP for enrollment and student services, needs to sign off on it.
Why would we ban water when it’s a healthier option than soda, Eckman asked.
“We banned plastic bottles, but we still have plastic soda bottles,” Eckman said.
Larned will be at a future meeting to discuss the water bottle policy.