The ASUCD Senate gathered at the Memorial Union on Feb. 23 at 6:10 p.m. for its weekly meeting.
The meeting began with a speech by Davis Mayor Robb Davis. Davis’ speech touched on various issues such as housing, sanctuary cities, infrastructure, hate crimes, the city’s relationship with the university and its recent divestment from Wells Fargo.
“You’re all elected officials, you know what that means,” Davis said while speaking to the Senate. “It’s a very public role. You hold yourself up to a lot of criticism, you make hard decisions and most of the time about half the people aren’t happy. But I’ve really enjoyed it from the perspective of learning my community.”
Following Davis’ speech, the Police Chief Search Committee spoke in an effort to gather suggestions in the process of hiring a new police chief. Since former police chief Matt Carmichael took on a new position at the police department at the University of Oregon, the university has been working to hire a new chief.
Several campus units were present at the meeting to give their reports and updates, including Unitrans, the Coffee House, the Sexual Assault Awareness Advocacy Committee, the Elections Committee, the Aggie Reuse Store and Whole Earth Festival (WEF).
Senate Bill #48, a bill to amend the 2016-17 budget for WEF and reallocate funds within the budget, was passed unanimously with a vote of 12-0-0.
Afterward, the Senate took up SB #47. The bill, which seeks to amend section 604(B) of the ASUCD bylaws, concerns a violation of California labor codes. The section requires unit directors to submit a written report at the end of each pay period. A unit director who fails to submit one will not be paid for that period until a report is submitted. Seeing the portion as unenforceable, the Senate unanimously passed the bill.
SB #46 will allocate $453.88 to purchase an HP Laserjet Pro 400 M401dne Monochrome Laser Printer for Picnic Day. After discussion, the bill passed unanimously.
The Senate took up a new resolution authored by Environmental Policy and Planning Commission chair Sarah Risher. Senate Resolution #8 demands that the University of California divest from “all remaining holdings in fossil fuels and reinvest in companies that meet the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria.” The resolution passed unanimously.
Next, the Business and Finance Commission, which advises the Senate on the fiscal concerns of ASUCD, gave presentations for audits of the Pantry, Housing Advising for Undergraduate Students and Creative Media.
The Senate then took up SB #45 to mend the jurisdiction and name of the Internet and Networking Committee (INC). The bill renames INC as the Technology, Internet and Networking Committee (TINC) and provides specification as to what types of technology the committee may purchase. The bill passed unanimously.
SB #44 will shift the responsibilities of the Academic Senate (AS) student representative delegation to the Academic Affairs Commission (AAC).
These responsibilities, previously held by the AS, include recommending ASUCD programs and policies in areas of Academic Affairs, disseminating information concerning student development of course and curriculum with Undergraduate Education, appointing commissioners to attend Academic Senate Committee meetings as ex-officio members and sending at least one representative to attend all Academic Senate and Undergraduate Council meetings.
The bill passed unanimously.
SB #50 will codify the procedure for hiring Academic Senate Committee Representatives and relations with the Academic Senate. The bill passed unanimously.
The Senate also took up Resolution #9, authored by ASUCD President Alex Lee, which moves to submit a proposal to the Academic Senate to reform General Education (GE) accreditation. The proposal seeks to give GE credits for existing AP exam scores for corresponding classes. UC Davis is the only school in the UC system to not give these GE credits for AP exam scores.
After deliberation, the resolution passed unanimously.
The last agenda item was SB #37, which mandates quarterly commission presentations. SB #37 passed in February by a vote of 8-0-3, but was subsequently vetoed by Lee with a revision. The senate took up Lee’s revision and overturned the veto with a unanimous vote.
The meeting adjourned at 11:10 p.m.
Written by: Ivan Valenzuela — campus@theaggie.org
