Final Notification to the Senate

ASG Members,
I just wanted to inform that Senate that I have signed into law all pending Senate Bills including the one presented by Senator Reeves at Thursday's meeting. The Student Fee Governing has also concluded its work for FY 12 and fees are pending approval of the President and the Board of Governors. As soon as that information is available it will be released to the campus community. Also the Student Fee Governing Board has elected current Vice President, Richie Cahill, as the chair for next year's process. I am confident in his abilities to continue to lead the SFGB through its new process.

I would also like to apologize for the lack of maturity and professionalism among leaders in the Senate for the stunt that was pulled on Thursday. I was appalled at this stunt and was caught off guard by it. This stunt was in poor taste and as a piece of professional advice I would suggest that as developing leaders you do not do such a thing. That stunt will do nothing but hurt your standing and ruin your perception as a person. Perception is EVERYTHING.. On behalf of those individuals and for the unprofessionalism exhibited by our organization, I apologize. As Winston Churchill said, "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."

In closing, I wanted to thank you all for one heck of a year. Not as productive as I would have hoped but it really could have been worse. Personality conflicts, egos, a lack of vision and knowledge (exhibited by Senate Leadership), power trips and apathy reined supreme. A senate that trampled every challenge last year struggled to gain footing this year. I hope that the senate next year can exhibit what this year's lacked in order to be successful. Senate strength and leadership is KEY to a successful ASG.

I wish everyone the best of luck in their future endeavors. For all returning members of I have one quote to better express the best advice I could give.

Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
Vince Lombardi


Thank you for the memories, I will never forget them.

-steve

Steve Titus
President
Associated Students’ Government
Colorado State University-Pueblo

My Official Position on the Threats on Campus.

I just wanted to voice my support for the admin of the university and the actions and due diligence they have practiced over the last 36 hours in response to this threat. The University and the Sheriff's Office acted appropriately by vastly increasing police presence, being very transparent of what exactly the threat said and not canceling classes. The school made the right choice by not canceling classes because of the possibility of copy-cat threats. CSU-Pueblo is one of the safest campuses in the state and we need to all do our part to keep it that way.

Testimony to Senate Ed Committee on Student Voting Rights Bill

Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the Senate Education Committee.

My name is Steve Titus and I am the student body President of the fastest growing and most diverse university in Colorado at CSU-Pueblo.  The state’s only university designated as a Hispanic Serving Institute.  I was born and raised in Southern Colorado and I am a first-generation college student.  I will be the first member of my family to graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree when I graduate in May with a degree in Political Science, I will also be attending law school this fall.

I am here to ask you for your support for rights and privileges that nearly three quarters of student board members at four year public universities across the country enjoy in the terms of a vote. 

As I testified last year in this committee, we are in no way shape or form reinventing the wheel we are just merely finding best practices at other four-year public universities across the country and mimicking them.

With the economic recession continuing to plague Colorado’s Higher Education Funding CSU-Pueblo is budgeting an 18% tuition increase next year.  This university, which reports 90% of our students on some type of financial aid, deserves a voice at the table as their financial stake in our university and the system increases.  

According to the Chronicle’s of Higher Education in a November 2010 article governing boards are shown not to be diverse.  The nationwide average public institution governing board has:

• 12 voting members, including nine men and three women.
•  
• Nine members are white, two are black, and one is another race.
•  
• One trustee is under 30 years old, two are 30 to 49, eight are 50 to 69, and one is over 70.

 The students’ role on the board is vague and really not defined.  We are there basically to try to look good for the cameras and used as a basis of support for the board’s decision and the common quote of, “We asked the students on the board and they didn’t disagree (obviously we cant adequately voice our dissent if the case arises)”

The transparency on this board varies depending on circumstance.  For example, the Board vastly opposes this bill as I am sure you all know.  The Board, tried to schedule a meeting on this bill to decide its position but that meeting never occurred.

I respect the Board and pray that what the board does is in the best interests of the students but using university monies for a lobbying effort that neither the faculty nor students support may not be the most transparent action and violates the cornerstone of shared governance within these theoretical halls of ivy that our institutions have been built upon. 

I would once again like to thank Senator Giron and Representative Fisher for their continued support of the bill  and would yield to the committee for any questions that you all may have. 

Academic Calendar Issues, No Holidays Off? Too Short? Too Long?

Campus Community,

The Associated Students’ Government would like to invite the campus community to attend an Academic Calendar Forum on Monday, February 7th from Noon to 1pm in the Hearthwell Lounge.  

ASG wants to hear from you regarding the current academic calendar and possible changes including observing national holidays such as Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and President’s Day.  

The forum will be an open discussion to give input into the viewpoints of the staff, faculty and students of the University in response to an ASG Senate Resolution. Pizza and drinks will be provided.  

If you are unable to attend the forum and would like to express your viewpoint on this issue, please visit the ASG website at http://www.colostate-pueblo.edu/asg/Pages/default.aspx and click on the “Click here to submit your feedback to ASG” link.

This is your chance to be the voice for change in the future!

We hope to see you there,

The Associated Students' Government Academic Affairs Committee