The eighth Senate Meeting of the Spring Quarter was called to order at 7:16 p.m. All senators were present except for PPT Richardson, CHASS Senator Mido, CHASS Senator Bui, CHASS Senator Yang, CHASS Senator Lu, CNAS Senator Cheng and BCOE Senator Au. All ECAB members were present as well except for President Assaf, VP of Campus Internal Affairs Nassar, VP of External Affairs Hearns, Elections Director Trinh and International Student Director Nguyen.
After the approval of the agenda and previous week’s meeting minutes, the Senate opened the podium for public forum. The former Model UN Director Michael Khvat came up to the podium to voice concerns about sustainability in UCR. He pointed out that the older buildings like Olmstead and Sproul fail to meet sustainability standards and proposed that they consider upgrading the buildings with motion sensors and lighting alternatives to save energy. VP of Sustainability Martinez said she would be reaching out to Khvat.
Victoria Nguyen announced that she will be the new EVP for the 2023-2024 school year. Ángel Rentería from the VPEA Office asked for a friendly amendment to the civic engagement director position from a 9-month period to a 12-month period on the budget.
During the Ex-Officio Reports, both State of the Association and Judicial gave updates. President Assaf’s statement was presented by Chief of Staff Cooper who reported that the R’Gear distribution and End Overdose events were successful. Other events currently being worked are another alumni panel, a Senior BBQ at the Barn with merch for seniors, and a financial literacy workshop. EVP Usmani reported that one-on-ones and recaps with senators have been conducted, and the senator banquet has been planned.
VPEA Hearns has met with legislators to speak on behalf of affordable housing and disability justice and is completing the transition of powers. VP of Sustainability Martinez passed one large scale initiative and multiple green grants, held tabling and is also working on a transition of powers. Marketing and Promo Director Nguyen announced that the last giveaway of the year will be tote bags and stress balls near finals week. Personnel Director Ahluwalia reported that the Menstrual Product Resolution was passed. First Time Student Director Nguyen is working on a point-to-point shuttle program from 5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, every half hour in front of Winston Chung Hall, driven by UCR students to drive students who live in a 30-minute radius back home. Their committee is holding a goodie bag event with stress relievers for finals with the first hour reserved for first years. Elections Director Trinh stated that she will be working with PPT Richardson in regards to legislation and that she will be sharing and posting applications for elections director soon. International Student Director Nguyen reported on keeping in contact with her committee and planning her transition of power. PPT Richardson reported having held 9 LRC meetings since the start of the quarter and that the third wave of AAP has rolled out. For Judicial, it was reported that the last meeting will be next week and that the results for new positions will be released during next week’s meeting. VPDEI applications will open soon.
During New Business, SB-023-001 ASPB Constitution Updates presented new name changes to the ASPB Constitution. The start date for some positions have changed, and the biggest update was about the member division, who is responsible for getting volunteers, retention, and proper training, as well as plans on having a membership director to oversee these volunteers to continue to promote growth in the program.
Vice Chancellor of Planning, Budget and Administration Gerry Bomotti presented the Stem Ed Center Update. The update detailed that the Riverside High School District wants to have a STEM education center at UCR. There have been a series of starts and stops since the project was proposed before COVID, but a year ago RUSD decided they wanted to move ahead with the project. The University will simply provide land for the school district to build their center and will not provide any additional funding. Some concerns were brought up by senate members as to whether or not certain spots would be reserved for high school students in the campus community, whether the traffic situation in and around campus would be worsened by high school student commuters, and whether or not high school students would be allowed to use resources on campus like the HUB or library.
Various budgets were approved during Finance Hearing Minutes. The proposed operating budget was passed 8-0-2. Proposed budget for Non-Traditional Student Director was passed 8-0-2. Proposed Budget for Elections Director was passed 8-0-2. Proposed budget for VP of Finance was passed 8-0-2. Proposed budget for Personnel Director was passed 8-0-2. Proposed budget for First Time College Student Director was passed 8-0-2. Proposed budget EVP was passed 8-0-2. Proposed Budget for Transfer Student Director was passed 8-0-2. Proposed budget for Student Voice Committee was passed 8-0-2. Proposed budget for VP of Sustainability was passed 8-0-2. Proposed budget for PPT was passed 8-0-2. Proposed budget for Judicial was passed 8-0-2. Proposed budget for VP of Marketing was passed 8-0-2. Proposed budget for VPCIA was passed 8-0-2. Proposed budget for International Student Director was passed 8-0-2.
There was a motion to make a friendly amendment for this piece that was passed. Proposed budget for VP Externals was passed 8-0-3. Proposed budget for Bears Den was passed 7-0-4. Proposed budget for organizations was passed 9-0-2. There was a friendly amendment to rename a position for this budget that was passed 11-0-0. Revision II ASUCR Budget 2023-2024 was passed 9-0-2. And finally, motion to approve Finance Hearing Minutes #8 was passed 11-0-1.
The next item for New Business was SB-S23-006 Chapter 24: Eligibility Standards Amendments. It detailed the new appeal and probationary process for elected officials in ASUCR. It had been brought up in the previous senate meeting and was revised after some feedback from the senate. IED O’Brien states appreciating the probationary period, but was confused by the appeal process which is subject to interpretation, and is still in favor of a cumulative GPA rather than quarterly. Ortiz responded that a quarterly GPA is better reflective of how a student can handle additional commitment. Cooper and some speakers discussed existing language, Cooper listed more concerns on the change in GPA, mentioning that the process may be abused. Ángel responded saying that the purpose of this change was to make it possible to introduce more students into the space and make ASUCR more accessible. The amendment was tabled 11-0-0.
SB-S23-008 Amending Vice President of Finance: Outreach Coordinator was presented to remove the position of the Outreach Director. The power given to this position will be given to another campus department. The motion was passed 10-0-1. SB-S23-009 Outreach Director Stipend is paired with the previous amendment, removing the stipend for the Outreach Director. It was passed 10-0-1.
No comments were made during Public Comment.
Senator Reports were tabled to the following week, the motion to table was passed 10-1-0.
During Roundtable Announcements, Senator Nguyen reports on the fall quarter legislation to call for UCR to support peer academic advisors campus wide. He then mentioned that they were awarded $30,000 in form of a grant to support their advisors to use in the upcoming fall. Senator Barman mentions that Friday would be the last LRC meeting, and to submit legislation before 9:00 a.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:48 p.m.
