AS Board update graphic. PJ Heusted // AS Review
By PJ Heusted
The Associated Students Executive Board met on Friday, Nov. 13 for their eighth meeting of the 2020-21 academic year.
Black Student Organizations’ Demands
VP for Diversity Ranulfo Molina shared that he and a team are working to finalize the job description for a Black Students Coalition.
Director of the Viking Union Eric Alexander shared that there are current short term and long term plans to create a Black student space within the VU. The short term plans include finding a space that already exists whereas long term plans include looking to develop a new space to be designated as a Black student space.
Committee Reformation
VP for Student Services Carson Brock shared a drafted charge and charter for a Committee Council that he is looking to create that would streamline the process of creating new committees, reviewing and appointing students to committees, reviewing general committee processes and creating an overall better experience.
The creation of this committee would aim to diffuse responsibility from the Board to this new committee. That diffusion would require clear language to determine what the Board and Committee Council roles would be, how they relate and what changes would be necessary to the job descriptions of the Board members.
Responses from other Board members were generally positive, but there was acknowledgement that there would need to be a lot more work and discussion of a council like this before moving forward.
Western Board of Trustees Resolution
Senate Pro-tempore Sargun Handa brought back and shared the finalized version of the resolution from last week’s meeting.
Handa pointed out the changes made including the inclusion of a list of sources used to inform the creation of the document and a list of people to whom the resolution should be distributed.
Shred the Contract
Handa presented updates regarding Western’s extension of their contract with Aramark through 2023.
According to Handa, Shred the Contract, a campus organization working to end Western’s contract with Aramark, said that they reached out to administrators over the course of several months with little to no response.
Only three of the Board members were aware of the extension before it was sent out to the general public. Brock and AS President Abdul Malik Ford were informed of the extension the morning that the announcement went public and VP for Activities Keenan Kaemingk learned from Ford that same day. No Board members were involved in conversations about the approval of an extension.
The Board also briefly discussed the “zoom bombing” of Shred the Contract’s meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 11.