Senate Summary
Your student senators for 2017-18 | PC: Kim Canine
Our very talented senators convened last week to speak about their ideas and concerns with a faculty guest and their capable sponsor, Kim Canine. As our ASB President, Anthony Gann, welcomed the new and returning legislatures, he gave a few words of advice.
“Do not take what you do here lightly,” he began. “ASB relies on Senate because you are the legislative side. You are our “checks and balances” to make sure we stay in line.”
In between introducing themselves, the updates from student services about room renovations on campus and figuring out a better system for the registration checklist, senators formed their committees. There are a total of six committees that do their own part in making sure your voices get to that giant rectangular table in a secluded part of the student center.
The Senate Rules Committee have a very big stake in the senate as a whole. This incredible team takes the draft version of a bill and by the time they’re through with it, it’s legible and perfect enough to present in front of our awesome Union College board members.
The Appropriations Committee sits down with ASB’s very own Financial Vice President, Sierra Clark, to discuss budgets and make sure we are staying within the boundaries of the intimidating budget throughout the year.
The Computer and Technology Committee works with, you guessed it, computers and technology! They are allowed to sit on Union College’s Technology Committee and examine technological items that can be improved around campus.
The Student Elections Board works directly with you because they check the immediate results of the student elections of the elected ASB officers. Then, they relay that information to the student body in a very effective manner (usually an email, sound familiar?).
The Athletic Committee is one of the newest additions added last year by our Executive Vice President, Jean Christian Toure, to help Senate run more efficiently. This committee composes bills according to your athletic needs, no matter how trivial these needs may seem.
Finally, the Academics Committee, another recent extension to our senate by Jean Christian, addresses your concerns in an academic fashion. Whether you believe you should be able to see every single grade of every single class on Moodle or think one certain class should be three hours long instead of one, you can direct your worries to this group. Don’t be daunted by their titles; this group of crafty individuals are here for you!
Now that you know a little more about how your liaisons to your administration on campus actually do their jobs, let them know about your thoughts so that they can be affirmed in the bi-weekly meetings.
Yeimy Rodriguez is a sophomore studying business administration.