The ASSU Undergraduate Senate discussed the proposed New York City campus and was updated on several ASSU Executive programs at its meeting on Tuesday evening.
The meeting, which was also attended by freshman members of the Leadership Development Program (LDP), had only one action item on the agenda. The bill, a resolution showing support of the persecuted Baha’i intellectuals within Iran, was passed unanimously.
Personal reports from the ASSU Executive followed, with Michael Cruz ’12 and Stewart Macgregor-Dennis ’13 updating the Senate on the progress of the Governing Documents Commission and the Division of Internal Review (DIR).
The DIR, which was heavily debated and delayed in the Senate because of a confidentiality clause that some senators said conflicted with the ASSU’s open-information policy, is still facing issues with confidentiality, according to Cruz.
“Unfortunately there isn’t as much work going on in the DIR as we hoped,” Cruz said. “They’re working out confidentiality issues.”
In addition to the DIR, the Community Action Board has also faced delays. After being asked by Senator Daniel DeLong ’13 about the board, Cruz said they had been on hiatus for the past week and will resume work next Monday.
A report from DeLong on behalf of the Advocacy Committee detailed plans for the One-on-One Advocacy Program, which would help the ASSU assist students in problems with University officials.
DeLong noted that this was not a mediation service, but rather a way for members of the ASSU to help students resolve issues. The Senate discussed several technical issues in getting the project to work, but DeLong said he hopes to hand out business cards to Senators and their LDP mentees next Tuesday at the Senate meeting.
Brianna Pang ’13 brought attention to the fact that four ASSU solicitor generals (SG) from last year had asked the Senate to cover their personal stipends of $500.
Pang said the SGs had been promised this amount, but their stipends had been budgeted at $150. Senators objected to paying the bill through the current Senate, and no consensus was reached as to how the ASSU would handle the SGs’ request.
The conversation then turned to the proposed Stanford New York City campus. DeLong expressed concerns he had received from students about the initiative, mainly the University’s lack of student engagement around the issue.
“I think it’s somewhat disconcerting that we have to push the administration to reach out to us and educate us about the projects they’re doing to change the University,” DeLong said.
Senator Ben Laufer ’12 recommended inviting a couple members of the project to the next Senate meeting to debrief the Senate and provide a synopsis of what the project will include.
Nanci Howe, dean of Student Activities and Leadership (SAL), also discussed a new web platform for student groups to use. The platform, called “OrgSync,” would allow student groups to make their own webpage to help advertise and organize their activities. Howe said she hopes OrgSync will also eventually be used to keep track of student group finances.
Howe also mentioned that the name OrgSync may be changed in the coming weeks to something more Stanford-specific.
USC ticket reimbursements are still open to students who apply. 180 students have applied for a reimbursement as of Tuesday. The Senate still plans to refund the cost of 250 tickets, offering a reimbursement of $10 per ticket.