Senate
decreases Godina’s office hours
to 20 per week
Jennifer Frehn
Online Forty-Niner
News Editor
In an unusually short meeting Wednesday, all measures were approved by the Associated
Students Senate, including a motion to decrease the office hours of the chief
of staff from a minimum of 32 hours per week to a minimum of 20 hours per week.
Sens. Mike Emenhiser, College of Business, and Jessica Vieira, College of Education,
proposed the motion to decrease office hours for the chief of staff, this was
part of motion to approve policy on executive fellowships. The motion applied
to all appointed officers, and specifically, the chief of staff.
Originally, the proposal was to decrease the office hours of the chief of staff
to a minimum of 16 hours per week, but a proposed amendment to change the minimum
to 20 hours per week out of concern that 16 hours would not be sufficient time
for the chief of staff to carry out necessary responsibilities. This was in light
of last week’s discussion of Associated Students, Inc. President Jamie
Pollock’s request to pay Bobby Godina, her chief of staff, the stipend
of the administrator.
Several senators requested Pollock speak on the issue to know how a reduction
in hours of the chief of staff, her “right-hand man” would affect
her. The chief of staff is in charge of daily operatons, fills in for the president
as needed and runs the cabinet.
Sen. Heidi Chavez, College of Health and Human Services, opposed the request
for Pollock to speak and advocated not spending any more time on the issue, because
the Senate has already had discussions regarding the topic in recent weeks.
“
I don’t think we need to hear any more repetitive information,” Chavez
said.
Despite Chavez’ protest, Pollock was called to speak on the issue. In response,
Pollock said she believed the emphasis should not be on how the cut in hours
would affect her, but how it would affect the students.
“
By cutting back his hours you will not hurt me… you will hurt the
students,” Pollock said, citing the interaction Godina has with students.
Shortly after Pollock’s comments, the motion to amend the proposal to a
20-hour minimum as opposed to a 16-hour minimum was passed, with nine votes for,
eight votes against and four abstaining. This was all a part of the motion to
approve policy on executive fellowships, which passed 19-0.
Gayle Fenton, director of the Center for Student Athletics Services and special
assistant to the vice provost, also gave a presentation on the chancellor’s
22 initiatives to facilitate graduation. Included was a proposal to lower the
unit requirement for a bachelor’s degree of all majors to 120 units, excluding
some majors such as engineering, whose unit requirement would be reduced as much
as possible.
Fenton said the proposal was designed to allow students to graduate sooner, thus
requiring less financial aid.
“
This initiative can only help students,” Fenton said.
Pollock, also involved in the chancellor’s initiatives, said the unit requirement
reduction would be accomplished in part by eliminating introductory courses.
Next, in her weekly announcements, Pollock said textbook requisitions are due
Friday and that less than 10 percent of professors on campus have turned in their
requests. In an effort to help more professors make the deadline, Pollock gave
each senator five letters he or she could give to professors, reminding them
of the deadline.
The problem for students is that the later professors turn in their book orders,
the more expensive it is for the Campus Bookstore to purchase the textbooks.
This increase in price is then passed onto students.
Wayne Dick, computer engineering and computer sciences department chairman, added
professors should also tell publishers which books they will not be using, as
that information is important as well.
Other motions include an approval policy on stipends, a motion to pass an election
reform act and a resolution opposing Proposition 76 on state spending and school
funds limits.
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