The Associated Students of the University of Arizona Senate returned to meeting on Wednesday, after taking last week off in remembrance of last year’s campus shooting. 

ASUA Sen. Maya Kostov updated the senate on student affairs issues. These updates included the Disability Resource Center launching a new software that will improve accessibility on D2L and  new employee training programs from Counseling and Psych Services. 

Kostov also informed the senate that the UA Faculty Senate is considering adding new language in course syllabi that would affect students’ ability to record their classes. This comes weeks after a photo of a lecture in the College of Nursing went viral, causing online controversy. The senators shared this concern about privacy but expressed worries about how this change might impact students who depend on audio recordings of lectures to succeed in class. 

“It is a little bit of an accessibility issue, but at the same time, there needs to be steps taken to ensure that privacy is being taken,” said College of Fine Arts Sen. Dylan Crites. “There should be some sort of compromise there.” 

The Senate then discussed their questions about a potential upcoming change in the tuition and fee model from the Arizona Board of Regents. Last Wednesday, the ASUA Senate participated in a Zoom Q&A session with Lisa Rulney, the UA’s chief financial officer, to discuss this plan and provide input from the student government.

This change would implement a tier system, where students would pay different tuition rates based on their major and the fees required to support their major.  A similar system is already in place at Northern Arizona University and Arizona State University, according to the presentation provided to ASUA by the university. This would begin in 2025, and guaranteed tuition would remain in place for current students. 

“I appreciate the fact that they’re engaging student government in what this looks like,” said ASUA Executive Vice President Eddie Barrón. “I think it does add some equity.”

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