Senate redirects students

The Weber State University Senate dealt with impending issues and resolved a misunderstanding last Monday at their weekly meeting. More students than usual attended the meeting, took notes for classes and asked questions about issues important to them. Some even sat in and participated with the senate discussions that took place during the first half hour of the meeting.
One such student was Cody Probasco, a WSU freshman who had come to the senate before to raise issues he sees as important to the student body as a whole.
“The book rentals — I liked that idea and it was a really good idea,” Probasco said. “So I thought maybe we could do something like that with laptops, because I know a lot of students who can’t afford a laptop, so maybe if there was a way to have a monthly fee or a semester fee to go and rent a laptop. I mean, I can see the problems that it might have, but I thought if it could be done it would be a good idea, and it would bring some more income to the school.”
The senators discussed the idea briefly before assigning it to a committee, to be dealt with at a later time. Legislative Vice President Elene Kvernadze explained how the suggestion could be dealt with.
“We already have a policy in place, but that’s for if you already hold a position at the school, and if you’re working,” Kvernadze said. “But we could definitely talk to those in charge and ask them what would be necessary for that to be extended out to the student body.”
While the senate may discuss any number of issues pertaining to students, in certain cases they can only suggest a proposal to the WSU administration and leave it up to them to decide. This includes the issue of adding an environmental appreciation class to the list of WSU general education courses.
The topic of course changes resurfaced during the meeting. A student from the WSU Environmental Club contacted Senator Michael Shaw and expressed concern over the topic of an environmental appreciation course as discussed at the previous meeting, where this issue was brought to the attention of the student senators. The senate was under the impression that the WSU Environmental Club wanted to create an environmental appreciation course that would be required for general education, much like English and math courses. This was a mistake that the same student and Shaw tried to clear up during this meeting.
“He felt it might have been misrepresented to us,” Shaw said. “He didn’t want it to be a required class. He just wanted an optional class that would help fulfill a diversity requirement.”
After clearing up this misrepresentation, the senate recalled the policy and their previous discussion on how this concern might be dealt with. Regardless of how the issue was presented, the senators explained that although they could discuss the proposal and make recommendations, they felt the WSU Environmental Club and the university administration would be more effective in making these types of changes. This is in line with WSU policy, which states the senate may discuss any sort of issues and make proposals for them, but the administration of the university itself has the final say on any changes.
“We didn’t think the senate would be the best expert on it,” Kvernadze said. “It would be the Environmental Club that would have more information on this. That’s why we thought it made more sense for them to pursue this rather than the senate.”