The Associated Students of the University of Arizona approved bylaw and stipend changes at their weekly meeting on Wednesday.
Responsibilities for the vice-chair of the senate changed and a new position called the outreach director was created.
The outreach director will be elected by the senate, and will report to the vice-chair.
“The senate outreach director will be the one…organizing and making sure that senators are going to their…club visits and will just be in charge of outreaching to other parts of the university,” Sen. Novelly said.
According to the new bylaws, the outreach director will be responsible for duties such as scheduling a minimum of one meeting per week with each senator, and coordinating weekly club visits or visits to residence halls.
The vice-chair of the senate will now be responsible for ensuring that all agendas and meeting minutes are published online and available for public access.
Senators also approved ASUA president’s Cabinet stipends.
ASUA marketing directors, who used to make $1,067 will now receive $800 per person. ASUA marketing assistants will receive $400 per person instead of the previous $533 and the elections commissioner will receive $800 per person – originally $1,200.
“I was really focused on making sure that people who do the same position or have similar responsibilities get paid the same amount, and so that’s where some of the changes come from,” said Sen. Abraham. “Overall it balances pretty well compared to last year’s budget.”
Andrew Chaifetz, a marketing junior, also presented his idea of a new program called Innovate UA.
The program would provide opportunities for students to make a change to the university. If a student had an idea to make something better at the UA, they could pitch their ideas to student leaders. Those leaders could then advocate for those students to implement the changes to the university, according to Chaifetz.
“The experience of working on these – advocating for these ideas, make a lasting impact on this university,” Chaifetz said. “And leaving that legacy and creating something that’s just truly amazing.”
Several Senators expressed their strong support for the program, including Sen. Abraham.
“I think that this is exactly what ASUA needs,” Abraham said. “Showing students that we’re actually here to help…I think that the possibilities for something like this are endless.”
