The Associated Students of the University of Arizona is hours away from holding its first senate meeting of the fall semester, when new programs will be introduced, a new motto will be adopted and the election of a new senator will grow closer.
“”I’m really excited,”” said Seema Patel, administrative vice president. “”We worked a lot over the summer to get to a good point to start the year off strong, conceptualizing things which we’ll actually get to in motion.””
“”I expect it to be a regular senate meeting, but it’ll be informational,”” ASUA President Tommy Bruce said.
Jessica Anderson, executive vice president, said one exciting change is the number of programs the ASUA acquired from the Senate for Student Involvement and Leadership, including club recognition, the University Activities Board and Family Weekend.
As for the senators, Bruce said he was also excited to see what each senator has planned for the year.
“”I am very impressed with the nine senators’ performance so far, they’ve all been very engaged this summer,”” said Anderson. “”I’m really excited to see them grow as a team. And I’m excited to see them in action at their first senate meeting of the fall semester.””
Along with introducing new senators, the ASUA is launching a new motto.
“”Something ASUA has been trying to focus in the last two years is the emphasis on the word ‘your,'”” Anderson said.
The new logo has, ‘your student government,’ printed right below the big bold red letters.
“”We really want to focus on outreach because this is your student government,”” said Patel. “”It’s about you, the individual student, and we really want to emphasize that. Something that we really want to be this year is approachable.
“”We want to be a resource for the students and so I hope the students expect that from us. To be able to utilize us to make the changes on campus that they want to see,”” Patel said.
“”There’s certainly this terrible misperception that we’re a little anonymous,”” said Anderson. “”Students don’t know what’s going on at ASUA. And we really want the students to know that we’re here for them. And that we do have all these amazing programs and services that are benefiting the student body.””
On their agenda for Wednesday’s meeting, the UA Votes 2008 and the school year’s Vision Presentation and budget approval will make the first splash of the school year.
“”All our programs are constantly growing, and setting budgets are always kind of a first step to getting a good year started,”” Anderson said.
The meeting will take place this evening at 5 p.m. in the Student Union Memorial Center’s Presidio room.
“”This meeting will set the tone for the year,”” said Bruce. “”It’s exciting to get the year kicked off. (This meeting) is going to kick off ASUA in the right way.””
