The Associated Students, Inc. Senate discussed the Resolution to Support Fair Wage for Faculty in the CSU System and passed it in its second reading after adding some revisions and notes to it Wednesday.
The Senate added that they support fair wages for all staff at CSULB. They also added wording to clarify that the money for the faculty raises should come from the state budget and surplus money. The resolution also states that ASI feels that faculty members are underpaid, and they deserve an increase that correlates with inflation.
“It’s not really a resolution to support 2 percent or 5 percent, this is just a resolution just to support our faculty in the California State University system,” ASI vice president Miriam Hernandez said.
In the resolution for “issues to consider for CSULB policy 99-24,” or the Monday, Wednesday, Friday class proposal, the Senate further discussed the implications of the policy on the different colleges and programs on campus.
The College of the Arts has been particularly vocal about the policy for fear that the rehearsal spaces and classrooms they utilize on Fridays will be occupied for other classes. Dhushy Sathianathan, interim vice president of Academic Planning, has said in a previous interview with the Daily 49er that the administration would not take space already being utilized, even if it were not technically being used for classes. Despite this, COTA is still concerned.
“We are worried because you’re not going to take our rooms, you’re going to take our students, so we still don’t have a rehearsal because you’ll be taking out of our rehearsals to attend classes on upper campus on Fridays,” faculty representative Jeff Jarvis said.
Other senators brought up that they and many students do their required hours for their respective colleges and research programs on campus on Fridays. They also said that they have still not been given sufficient information from the administration as to how this policy will be implemented.
“This is the least transparent proposal I have ever seen in my life, it’s kind of like, ‘Just trust us, we’ll figure it out and you’ll adjust, don’t worry about it,'” executive director of ASI Richard Haller said.
Part of the problem lies in the Chancellor’s Office, which has evaluated that CSULB has sufficient space to accommodate the influx of students the school is receiving, so they will not give CSULB any more funds for new buildings. Sen. Devin Ablard suggested that the Senate oppose the way the Chancellor’s Office measures space.
The provost search is bringing the first student forum to be involved in an administrative search, student representative Jordan Ares said. A provost is a Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, and they oversee curriculum, instruction and research. The first forum will be Thursday from 3:45-4:45, according to a campus-wide email.
There will be construction this winter on the fifth floor of the library to add more study spaces and outlets, Hernandez said.
The resolution to support the licensing of athletic trainers in California passed its second and final reading. After some revisions were made, the Senate moved to make this the final reading rather than wait until next semester to have a third reading.
Haller reported that Associated Students Fund is “in the black” for their operating budget and expenditure. He also reported that the ASI and USU stock portfolios are recovering some of their losses from earlier this year. In October and November, ASI portfolios gained a combined $43,391 and the USU portfolios gained a combined $71,929, Haller said.
The Royal Bank of Canada recently purchased Citi National Bank, which currently manages the investments for ASI, and because most of the people who were managing ASI’s portfolio have moved to other companies as a result, ASI is going out to ask for proposals from other investment firms.