The AS Student Senate during their meeting on Friday, Nov. 22. Joe Addison // AS Review
By Stella Harvey
At the first Associated Students Student Senate meeting of the 2019-2020 academic year, the senate confirmed the final student senators.
Adah Barenburg, senate pro-tempore, said senator applications were open in the four colleges with one senator for three weeks. Barenburg said she reviewed 19 candidates with AS Board Program Advisor Leti Romo, AS Board Program Coordinator Annie Byers and an AS board assistant.
They interviewed eight candidates, and selected Graciela Gomez for Woodring College of Education, Luke Arnold for the College of Fine and Performing Arts, Jose Cervantes-Aguilar for The Graduate School and Logan Moldenhauer for Huxley College of the Environment. All four senators were approved by the senate with a vote of 13-0-2.
Syllabus Sexual Assault Disclaimer Rationale
The senate discussed a document called the syllabus sexual assault disclaimer rationale, which was developed by a group of students in the human services department. Barenburg said in the future, she would like senators to consider writing a resolution in support of this document.
Climate in the Chemistry Department
Kris Aguayo, senator for the College of Science and Engineering, presented a statement outlining student concerns regarding the chemistry department. According to the statement, the document represents the concerns of more than 50 students from underrepresented backgrounds and their allies.
Concerns outlined in the document range from sexual harassment of research students, lack of equity, inclusion, and diversity training and not enough mentorship of marginalized students.
Aguayo encouraged other senators to evaluate the climate in their colleges, stating that these issues are systemic and do not only apply to the chemistry department.
Finance Council
AS Business Director Nate Jo gave a presentation on the AS restructure to update the senate on how the AS has changed. Jo then presented the charter of the proposed Finance Council. According to the process document, the council would act as a consolidated body to manage AS funds. The Executive Board passed the charter at their Nov. 22 meeting. The senate will vote on the charter on Dec. 6.