The Arbiter’s Fenix Dietz covers ASBSU’s latest meeting with Alicia Estey to address concerns over the last minute change to game day COVID policy.
Also – ASBSU President Kenneth Huston introduces potential “no exam” policy for dead week, and IESC is working towards a DEI coalition.
TRANSCRIPT:
Hello Broncos! My name is Fenix Dietz and this is The Arbiter’s ASBSU Update.
Executive Council:
The Fall Career and Graduate School Fair will be held in-person on Oct. 20 from 10 am to 2 pm in the Student Union Building’s Jordan Ballroom. Eric Kline, the Communications Officer for ASBSU, has been working with student representatives from the General Assembly and Academic Senate to get the word out about this event for students on campus who might be interested in attending.
ASBSU President Kenneth Huston is also working towards implementing a policy concerning dead week at a University level. In an email, Huston explained that ASBSU has tried doing this before, but it only ended with the creation of a “No Exam Week” policy by the University, which was not the intended outcome.
The push for a revised dead week policy came after conversations with Dr. Sarah Fry, a College of Education professor, who noticed the stress that students experience during the final two weeks of the semester.
Huston also said that “These cases are common themes across campus, where students have massive projects due in the No Exam Week, and spend their time focusing on those projects instead of studying for finals in week 16.”
Inclusive Excellence Student Council:
The IESC is currently working on finalizing a statement of purpose for the newly opened resiliency room in the Student Union Building.
The IESC is also working towards establishing a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coalition. Efforts are currently underway to make contacts with various organizations, students, faculty, and staff to build this coalition.
General Assembly and Academic Senate:
During a joint meeting between the Assembly and Senate on Sept. 22, a resolution and a declaration were introduced. The resolution sought to point out that the email sent by the university administration ahead of the Oklahoma State game, which stated that a negative test or vaccine were required for student entry, was sent out too late before the game.
The resolution was introduced by the on-campus employment representative Will Johanson and was met with some pushback by members of the Senate. The resolution and the declaration were ultimately tabled to make time for committee meetings.
During the following joint meeting on Sept. 27, Alicia Estey, the Vice President of University Affairs and Chief of Staff, came to speak and explain the university’s planning process for the new football game policy. Estey apologized for the short notice of the email, saying that the university had to jump through many hoops before making the decision. Estey also mentioned that crisis standards of care were enacted late Wednesday, Sept. 8. However, they were actually put in place a day earlier, on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 7.
The Senate and Assembly then went on to vote on the resolution.
The declaration was then tabled indefinitely, with the rationale being that since the university decided to not continue their football game entry policy, the declaration was no longer necessary. The declaration would have just been a statement saying that ASBSU felt that the university should remove any policy asking for vaccine proof. However a majority of ASBSU members did not share this feeling.
Funding Board:
N/A (except for homecoming decorating but that is happening the day we film so…)
Thanks for tuning in! This has been your ASBSU Update. I am Fenix Dietz with the Arbiter and I hope you have a wonderful week!
