AS Student Senate update graphic PJ Heusted // AS Review
By PJ Heusted
The Associated Students Student Senate met on Wednesday, Jan. 27 for their fifth meeting of the 2020-21 academic year.
Black Student Organization Demand Updates
Senate Pro-tempore Sargun Handa shared that she plans to work with the AS Finance Council and other members of the board to abolish their annual federal lobbying trip and reallocate the $4,200 budgeted for the trip to the Black Student Coalition.
Senators for the College of the Environment Laura Wagner and Francis Neff said that their public forum regarding the removal of the Huxley name from the CotE went well. Over 30 students, alumni, faculty and staff attended the forum.
Notes from Public Forum
During the allotted time for public forum, a group of students asked a series of questions regarding the decision to attempt to move senate elections to the spring.Â
All of the questions can be found in the chat section of the meeting’s video recording, but the students focused questions specifically about how the change in election dates would exclude transfer, first year and other non-traditional students from elections.
The senate considered matching their approach to elections with the hiring process for non-elected positions that does allow for admitted students to apply for jobs the spring before they start at Western.
Assistant Director of Student Activities Casey Hayden pointed out that there is language in the current AS Election Code that includes a minimum number of quarters spent at Western before someone can run in an election, but Handa suggested making a change in the code to remove that requirement.
AS Finance Council Value Statement
AS Business Director Noemi Bueno spoke as a guest to share a value statement created by the AS Finance Council to define their core values and develop a stronger sense of accountability between their office and other decision making bodies within the AS.
Bueno said that the document will not be sent out to students to avoid it being perceived as a performative statement, but instead will be referenced during the office’s work with financial requests.
Western Intersectional Lobby Day [WILD] Agenda
Student Advocacy and Identity Resource Center [SAIRC] Representation and Outreach Coordinator Mariam-Renee Wolters spoke as a guest to share the working drafts from the Disability Outreach Center [DOC] and SAIRC for the WILD.
The draft for the DOC portion of the agenda included two agenda items: Increase Access to Healthcare and Increase Accessibility in Public Spaces.
The draft for the SAIRC portion of the agenda included six agenda items: Supporting Students’ Basic Needs, Creating Successful and Stable Futures for Foster Youth with Disabilities, Ensuring Equity in Healthcare, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Supporting Our Undocumented Community and Mixed Status Families at Western and in Washington State and Prison to Postsecondary Education Pathways.
Information about the specific bills included on the agendas can be found in the drafts linked above.