On Sept. 30, the Associated Students of the University of California, Riverside (ASUCR) commenced the first Senate meeting of the academic year starting at 7:05 p.m and concluding at 7:54 p.m.
The meeting started with the approval of board appointments made by executive cabinet members to their office over the summer, which passed unanimously.
The senate then proceeded to the nominations of five new Associate Justices. Each Justice received a nomination either read aloud or given by an ASUCR Senate member, before giving a brief personal statement. The ASUCR cabinet voted in favor of all five justices; the justices were then sworn in proceeding the vote.
The Associate Justices nominated consisted of fourth year political science major Eva Raul, first year political science major Emmanuel Peter, third year political science and public policy major Sarah Mohideen, fourth year political science Anishka Durvasula and first year political science major Natalia Serna.
Rosie Liu, Vice President of Marketing and Promotions presented a new tabling schedule in which each ASUCR office would rotate tabling throughout the quarter, the decision passed unanimously.
The meeting proceeded with a finance training presentation given by the Vice President of Finance Rohan Vig. His presentation consisted of an introduction of the finance committee staff, an explanation of office duties and how to access the meeting minutes of the finance committee meetings, which are held every Tuesday 11 a.m.-12 p.m. in the ASUCR conference room.
In Committee reports, the Senate reviewed four bills, including SB-F26-001 or “Bill to Amend the Office of the Vice President of External Affairs,” SB-F26-002 or “Bill to Add New and Update Positions in the Office of Internal Affairs,” SB-F26-003 or “Bill to Amend the Office of the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” and SB-F26-004 or “Bill to Amend Stipend Bylaw,” all of which were unanimously passed by the Senate.
SB-F26-001 changed the title of executive assistant to administrative assistant. It also expanded the roles and responsibilities to include partial planning and execution of conferences attended by the office.
SB-F26-002 created three new positions under the student wellness director. These include the basic needs student director, campus safety director and student health director. Additionally, the bill updated the career center liaison position, restructured the commuter and transportation committee and added attendance requirements for staff meetings. The bill also required members to volunteer for ScottyEats, a collaborative initiative with the Office of Internal Affairs which serves leftover food from the Glasgow dining hall to students in an effort to combat food insecurity.
SB-F26-003 and SB-F26-004 amended the bylaws of certain positions within the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion introducing new roles including the non-traditional student director and the international student director.
