Associated Students Inc. heard last week from journalism students who seek to convince the university to fund Adobe Creative Cloud software for their studies. The ASI Senate also discussed whether to add new positions and provide free supplies for the study season.
Senate positions revisited
The Senate discussed whether to add new positions to the student government or if updating titles and purposes in some positions is necessary.
ASI President Blake Zante offered the idea of adding two new senator positions next semester to address the inclusion concerns expressed by graduate and international students.
While most of the senators agreed that adding new positions would be helpful, senator of greek affairs Travis Childress suggested that a revamp of all senator titles and purposes may prove more effective in solving the representation problem.
Vice president of finance Cam Patterson agreed with Childress and said that after last semester’s addition of senator of veteran’s and transfer affairs and senator of diversity, equity and inclusion seats, there is a clear cry for re-evaluation of senator purposes.
“If we’re adding four new senate positions within the span of a year, I think that’s more of a need for reorganization as opposed to adding more positions,” Patterson said.
The senate decided to appoint Childress and senator of diversity, equity and inclusion Amber Malhi to devise a restructuring plan.
Free testing materials for finals week
Students may be receiving free scantrons and bluebooks for finals week.
Joseph Blair, senator of resident affairs, and Cody Sedaño, senator of veterans and transfer affairs, brought forth the idea of allocating about $1,000 to cover the cost of scantrons and bluebooks that would be distributed to students for free.
Sedaño said there are benefits to offering supplies to students out of the ASI offices. He said students get to visit the ASI office and engage in face-to-face conversation with their representatives. Sedaño added that in-person meetings are better than communicating with students through mass emails.
“You are physically showing students, not sending them a message,” Sedaño said. “You’re building that relationship that wasn’t there before.”
Executive vice president Brandon Sepulveda asked the senate to try to make the materials available to students before finals week.
Although the initial proposal was not labeled as an action item and there was no official vote, the senate appeared unanimously in favor of implementing the services soon.
Adobe Creative Cloud
Media, Communications and Journalism students and College of Arts and Humanities faculty began a grassroots effort to spread the word of their need to access to the Adobe Creative Cloud. They shared their needs during the ASI meeting.
The MCJ representatives asked ASI for help in spreading the word about the project in hopes that students at Fresno State will pledge to purchase the software package at the discounted rate.
Faculty members and Daniel Avalos, an MCJ student who also works at The Collegian, addressed the senate during the public comment section. He discussed the campuswide need for updated Adobe Creative Cloud software, which includes graphic software like Photoshop, InDesign and Premier Pro.
Avalos stated that he and his classmates have run into problems with outdated software when trying to generate media content or open image files created with outdated software.
Assistant professor of graphic design Rusty Robison described the compatibility problem as “apparently urgent,” and stated that “[the software] is not an added bonus, it’s not an augmentation to our curriculum, it is our curriculum.”
Other faculty members said that not only do these software applications allow students to work on course projects, they equip them with skills necessary in the workforce.
Dr. Wes Wise, advertising and public relations professor, said, “Anything that involves content generation, whether you’re talking about websites, content marketing or social media, these [software programs] are applicable in all these areas.”
Assistant professor for broadcast journalism Faith Sidlow said the College of Arts and Humanities has made a deal with Adobe for 2,600 Creative Cloud licenses — that is contingent on funding. Fresno State President Dr. Joseph Castro has agreed to fund half the total cost of the project, she said.
“The President would pay for $30 a [license], or $75,000, and all we need are 2,600 students, faculty and/or staff to pledge that they will make that $30 payment,” Sidlow said.
If a minimum amount of student pledges are received by the end of the fall semester, the Adobe program is set to roll out at the beginning of the spring 2018 semester.