The AS Board poses on Friday, Sept. 27. Joe Addison // AS Review
By Stella Harvey
At the Associated Students Executive Board meeting on Feb. 21, VP for Diversity Yesugen Battsengel was absent.
Student Trustee Commission Charge and Charter
The board reviewed the Student Trustee Commission charge and charter, which recommends three to five students for the student trustee position. The recommendations are sent to the Governor of Washington, who chooses one student trustee. Western’s Board of Trustees acts as the university’s final authority and creates policy to be carried out by the administration. The student trustee sits on the board, acting as a student’s voice at meetings.
The board specifically looked at the membership of the commission. Adah Barenburg, senate pro-tempore, argued that because there will be two members of the board sitting on the commission as voting members, there should also be a representative from the AS student senate on the commission. Barenburg said she would like to see more collaboration between the senate and the student trustee, and having a member of the senate on the commission could help foster that relationship in the future.
Selome Zerai, VP for activities, argued that having another member of AS student government on the commission might make the two students at-large who will sit on the commission less likely to share their perspectives on the student trustee candidates. Zerai said she believed that having two board members would be sufficient student government representation. AS President Lani DeFiesta, said while she believes having Battsengel be the second board member on the commission would be valuable, Barenburg could sit on the commission and act as a representative of the senate.
The board agreed to vote on the charge and charter at next week’s board meeting to allow for more discussion.
Transportation Advisory Committee
Emily Gerhardt, VP for student services, brought forward the Transportation Commission Master Plan from 2015. Gerhardt said according to her legacy documents, the commission has not been active in five years. Gerhardt asked for the board’s comments and feedback about possibly dissolving the commission.
Trever Mullins, VP for sustainability, and Grace Drechsel, VP for governmental affairs, suggested communicating with other transportation committees, such as the AS Transportation Advisory Committee and the AS Alternative Transportation Fee Committee, before dissolving the commission.