Stan State’s student government representatives discussed a variety of topics concerning student affairs during the latest ASI meeting on September 7. 

Meeting and Event Protocols For Student Organizations News:

Christine Erickson, vice president of student affairs, announced that student groups are allowed to meet after October 1 in the Student Center. Erickson provided a document to ASI members listing the basic requirements and protocols that should be met and followed once in person meetings are conducted.

Requirements include but are not limited to: Having a sign up sheet, wearing face coverings, and staying three feet away from one another. The document and full list of guidelines and regulation can be found here.

The Coil Program:

Dr. Betsy Eudey, director of Gender Studies, has taken on a new responsibility this summer as interim coordinator to the Collaborative Online International Learning program, also known as COIL.

“The idea of COIL is to create an international learning experiences for students without having the requirement to travel abroad to do so,” Eudey said. 

The program would be conducted throughout a semester and will have faculty members from Stan State connect with faculty members from other universities across the country to work with students on assigned projects. 

“There are hundreds of campuses in the United States and around the world that are engaging in these COIL projects,” Eudey said. “We have opportunities to select from campuses with courses that are taught in English, [but] we can also be engaging in projects that can be useful for students who are taking [courses like] Spanish, Portuguese or other modern languages.”

According to Eudey, the COIL module would start with basic team building exercises and engaging students in ways to learn about one another’s cultures. Students would then focus on the assigned project and then would end with a reflection on their project and the overall cross cultural experience.

These types of courses will be available for enrollment beginning in the spring 2022 semester. The international education website features an official COIL section that will be made available in mid-October to keep prospective students updated. However, there is also a temporary website for those interested in finding more information on the program and with contact information.

College of Business of Administration’s Report: 

Director Billy Myers mentioned that he has an upcoming meeting with the Dean of Business Administration to continue the discussion of getting people into the advisory board of the College of Business.

Myer also announced that he has signed on to the faculty budget advisory committee. Myer expressed his gratitude for having his first student reach out to him regarding the business quantitative skills assessment test since this has been a concern for many students to get rid of that requirement. 

Dean of Students Report: 

Dean Heather Dunn Carlton urged ASI members to remind students that September 30 is the deadline for submitting vaccination certification or exemption requests.

Carlton also announced that the aquatic center will be opened on September 8. 

Finance Report:  

Vice President Destiny Suarez informed that an alternative Covid-19 testing site on campus is in the works, The alternate site will be solely available for students and other campus affiliates. Better signage on said testing sites will also be improved due to students and faculty expressing their concerns of how the directions within the lines are not clear.

ASI President’s Report: 

President Cyella Aghasi brought up the subject of campus repopulation plans. Aghasi explained that, after meeting with the fall planning committee in regards to repopulation, faculty expressed their disapproval of the notion of coming back in the fall. Faculty members claimed that most of their students do not have a desire to return to an in-person learning environment due to potential Covid risks.

Aghasi advocated to the committee on behalf of ASI that there should be a choice for students who wish to have on campus courses and to use the facilities that they have been paying for.

Agahsi said that discussion with the committee has led her to decide that another survey would be helpful in getting the statistics of what the majority of students want. The new survey would need to be completed before the set reopening of October 1.

The meeting concluded with the announcement that ASI is still searching for students to fill the role of Director of Athletics, Director of Housing and Residential Life, and Director of education. If you or someone you know might be interested in applying for any of these positions, please contact ASI here.