The Associated Students of The University of Arizona, the university’s undergraduate student governing body, held their first senate meeting of the year Wednesday, Sept. 2 via Zoom where they discussed their upcoming plans as the new senate class for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Beginning of the Year Business

Even though the senators and executive board are settling into their new positions while navigating the complications of the current COVID-19 pandemic, there was already business to attend to. The confirmation of the new ASUA Supreme Court Chief Justice, Joseph Ramos-Mata, was confirmed at this meeting and passed by the senators. 

In addition, the new 2020-2021 ASUA Budget, which includes changes like vacancies in positions due to budget concerns brought on by the pandemic, was introduced and will be moved to an action item for approval next week. 

Ideas From New Senators For The Coming Year

As the academic year is now in somewhat of a full swing, Executive Vice President Noah Vega asked the senators to introduce their ideas and plans for the coming year. 

Senator At-Large Lady Elli discussed initiatives she felt should be focused on in the coming semester and year including diversity and inclusion, representation in council, resource accessibility and health equity/mental health awareness. As chairperson for the projects and outreach committee, she alluded to getting some of these initiatives off the ground with upcoming projects.

College of Fine Arts Senator Jack Haskins talked about hoping to get some initiatives and campaigns underway involving promoting the health and safety of the Wildcat community during the pandemic. 

Other senators focused on specific initiatives they wanted to pursue like College of Education Senator Ella Wood, whose ideas were rooted in student accessibility including working with student leaders to make sure they are able to make their events virtually accessible and creating accessibility guidelines. 

ASUA meetings will be held on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. for the rest of the semester via Zoom until further notice. You can find information regarding the status of their programs and clubs on their website.

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