After five meetings for the 2023-24 academic year, the Associated Students, Inc. senate is officially complete.
At their meeting on Nov. 1, the senate voted to appoint James Seth Meneley as the senator for veteran and transfer affairs, filling the last vacancy.
“I am really confident that this year’s senate is one of the most passionate out of the last decade. Now it’s up to everyone to put in the work and make this campus a better place for students. We had a hard time getting to this point, but past senates have not been able to work at full capacity since COVID began, so I am lucky as EVP in the 23-24 year that I have so many senators that have so many ideas to work with,” said Frederick Lisitsa, executive vice president of ASI.
ASI elections for 2023-24 finalized in March and a full senate was elected. Over the summer, three people handed in their resignations because of scheduling conflicts, according to Lisitsa.
This left the senate incomplete, with new senators having to be elected.
Now that the senate is complete, ASI President Karen Carrillo is reassured that ASI can better serve the students of Fresno State.
“I feel relieved to know our student groups on our campus have a respective representative they can go to for support. With all vacancies filled, I anticipate a lot of collaborations happening within the senate and outside with other clubs and organizations,” Carrillo said.
The first meeting of the semester was on Sept. 6, where the senators kicked off the beginning of the year with a general updates session. Every member gave reports on the work they did over the summer as well as updates from the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.
On Sept. 20, the senate met for the second time. At this meeting, the internal affairs committee presented eight different candidates to fill four senator vacancies, two candidates for each position. Only one vacancy was filled.
The internal affairs committee consists of President Carrillo as chair, and two voting members of the senate: Alysa Garaygordobil, senator of the Kremen School of Education, and Luis Manzo, senator of operations and resident affairs.
Lisitsa was appointed as executive vice president at the third senate meeting on Oct. 4.
“I am really happy to be able to work with senators closely and help them make their project happen. This work is really rewarding for me, and it helps me heal from my time in the military,” Lisitsa said.
Rebecca Perez was EVP, but stepped down from the position because a new job opportunity arose. She is now the outreach coordinator in the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.
“Being the outreach coordinator is my first ‘big girl’ job. This is my opportunity to start my career in higher education,” Perez told The Collegian.
At the fourth meeting, Carrillo presented “U-Hour,” an initiative to allot one hour where there will be no classes. The hour is designed for students to take advantage of the resources on campus that are only available during standard business hours.
It is also for students to be able to partake in on campus activities or events. The proposed hour will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays or on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“The goal of this is not to cut back classes. I want to stress very strongly, by the way, because I know what it sounds like, ‘Oh one hour that means that’s one hour that could have been a class during that time.’ The goal isn’t to eliminate classes, but just rearrange them or push them back a little bit more later,” Carrillo said at the meeting.
Three senators were also appointed at the meeting: Jazmyne Barron as senator of student affairs and engagement, Nick Monroe as senator of Greek affairs and Varun Raj as senator of the College of Science and Mathematics.
Monroe is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and he is stepping into his new role with the excitement to make a positive impact on campus.
“As the new ASI senator of Greek affairs, I am excited to make new connections with each council. I plan to bring awareness to the positive impact Greek letter organizations have both on the campus and our community,” he said.
Barron said she also had a smooth transition into her role. In addition to being a senator, she is also a committee leader.
“My time so far has been great so far! I am excited to be leading a committee (University Affairs) and I invite any students interested in being more involved to attend my committee meetings every other Wednesday at 4 p.m.,” she told The Collegian.
EVP Lisitsa’s main goal for ASI moving forward is unity.
“I want to unify the school. I believe Fresno State is too decentralized and that colleges do not communicate effectively with each other at the detriment of the university as a whole and students’ success and enjoyment. I hope that by senators from different colleges and focuses working together, and being able to help facilitate their projects and collaborations, that is one of the ways we can bring the school together in terms of direction. We are not competitors here, we are all working towards the longevity and success of our students and Fresno State as a whole,” Lisitsa told The Collegian.
The complete ASI staff can be found in the “meet us” tab of their website. The next ASI senate meeting will be held in RSU room 207 on Nov. 15 at 4 p.m.
