ASUA aims for transparency, shares senate progress reports

The Associated Students of the University of Arizona senators submitted progress reports to Sen. Enrico Trevisani in an effort to inform the university about the senate agenda and hold the student elected officials accountable.

Each senator is required to serve on at least one of the four committees: Internal Affairs, Budget Oversight, Campus Climate and Outreach, and Senate Projects.

Want to know what your student senators have been up to this semester? Trevisani shared the reports with the Daily Wildcat and we summed them up for you.

Editor’s note: Senators Allison Childress, Joey Steigerwald and Stefan Schmietenknop did not submit progress reports.

Enrico Trevisani, College
of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Worked with other senators to restructure the
ASUA Senate standing committees and to make changes to the bylaws in September

Helped the ASUA Policy Department to register
voters on campus and is meeting with SBS administrators and associate deans to
discuss the institutionalization of Get Out The Vote

Working to create a stronger relationship
between his college and student government

Plans to discuss the changes of the ASUA
structure and ways to incorporate faculty in the governing process in front of
the College Academic Administrators Council in the upcoming weeks

Will encourage the senators to participate in
the UA AdvoCATS program and hopes for regular meetings with state-elected
officials, where he will discuss legislation affecting tuition, student safety
and the on-campus climate

Sen. Matthew
Lubisich, senate president

Lubisich is responsible for laying the
groundwork for the college specific representatives. He plans to speak with all
the college-specific deans within the next month to create a foundation between
the college and senator representatives

Lubisich also worked on creating the ASUA
standing committees, but he decided on who would hold a chair position for each
committee.

Is chair of the Senate Projects committee which
has discussed issues during the last few weeks, including an Athletics fee that
may be proposed this year. Is working on getting as much information about the
fee as possible before presenting it to students

Meets weekly with different ASUA departments to
make sure the department’s voice is heard

Sen. Roy Bracken, Eller
College of Management

Serves on the Budget Oversight committee, which
is responsible for allocating the senate’s budget to different projects

Goal is to increase the number of honors classes
offered within Eller

Sen. Allie Patberg

· Currently working to improve administration and
student communication about Title IX issues. Has looked into creating a
standing committee that will involve students on this issue. Plans to continue
this effort into next semester

·

Serves as a member-at-large on the Senate
Internal Affairs committee, which has weekly meetings to discuss internal
issues. There are plans to review the ASUA bylaws and revisions suggestions
will begin soon.

Wants to help enable campus partnerships between
different campus organizations through a Student Leader Form

Sen. Emily
Hastings

Assisted with making a smoother transition to a
larger senate by helping other senators create the committee structure.
Hastings’ main focus included establishing the Campus Climate and Outreach
Committee.

Serves as the CCOC Chair and has led the
committee in setting its goals for the year. The committee will be ready to
work at the next meeting

Participated in the Library committee, Student
Affairs Committee and the Student Services Fee Advisory board

Sen. Anna Reimers

Worked to
create alternative solutions to fund future football stadium renovations as a
member of the Senate Projects Committee. The committee has also started a
project to clarify the role of college-specific senators

Met with the College of Education dean in
October to discuss her role as the college’s senator representative. Together
they decided to meet monthly to further converse areas of growth and the
potential option for her to sit in on the college council

Plans to introduce herself to the college,
explain her role as senator and send out surveys, asking what students would
like to see specifically be made in the College of Education

Hopes to continue her efforts to connect ASUA
and the College of Education, while also creating a transition meeting for
newly elected senators

Sen. Matthew
O’Mara

Serves on the Senate Projects Committee, who has
worked on researching the proposed athletics fee

Reached out to Student Union Memorial Center
food service representatives about what happens to unconsumed food at the UA.
He has plans to reclaim the food and provide it to students that may be food
insecure

Will also meet with the Research Policy
Committee to discuss topics about research at the UA

Sen. Anna Woolridge

Goal is to exhaust the Budget Oversight
Committee’s funds on worthy causes that will benefit as many students of the UA
as possible “By using all of our funds we will be demonstrating that the
funding given to senate is useful and necessary, and therefore should not be
decreased”

Hopes to increase freshmen engagement and
knowledge of ASUA and is currently working on achieving this with the help from
Freshman Class Council. Hopes to continue this into spring 2017

Woolridge also serves on the Residence Hall
Associate Committee.

Sen. Lorenzo
Johnson

Working toward creating more student engagement
and feedback toward UA libraries as a member of the Library Advisory Committee

One of his primary goals is laying the
foundation for a student-friendly resting center within one of the libraries

·

Is a member of the CCOC and will be
participating in the AdvoCATS program during the spring semester

Sen. Kincaid Rabb,
College of Fine Arts

Has invited the rest of the senators to the
final dress rehearsal for “Premium Blend.” Senators will receive a
tour of the School of Dance from Melissa Lowe, professor in the School of
Dance, after the performance. He plans on putting together similar events for
the remaining schools in the College of Fine Arts

Began working on establishing opportunities for
College of Fine Arts students to get involved with the UA community

·

Dedicated time into diversity and inclusion on
campus by attending every Diversity Task Force meeting

Sen. Atiana Waters

Wants to form a plan to increase awareness of
the ASUA elections in the spring semester. Waters would specifically like to
recruit from diverse groups across campus

·

Is the senate representative, among other
directors from the ASUA executive branch, for the ASUA President’s Cabinet
biweekly meetings. After receiving information from these meetings, she then
passes it along to the rest of the senate. She also serves as a member on the
Senate Projects Committee

Sen. Olivia
Johnson

Goal for this year is to focus on creating and
promoting better inclusivity of individuals with disabilities. Currently is
researching how other universities address this problem in hopes of finding the
best solution for the UA

·

Also sits on the CCOC

Sen. Nohe Garcia

Working with THINK TANK to lower fee-based
services for students who demonstrate financial need. Together they are also
figuring out what college success classes work, in hopes of incorporating it
into freshman orientations

Works
with the UA Green Fund Committee, as well as the Internal Affairs Committee

Sen. Danielle
Ledezma

Acts as both the Appropriations Chair and the
Budget Oversight Committee Chair. Ledezma wants to bring awareness to mental
health and sustainability issues on campus

Sen. Trent Waller

Has made “great progress” in his
platform to develop an entrepreneurship program specifically for underclassmen

Is leading a Senate Project to raise awareness
for Meningitis B

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