Senate 4/15 & 4/22: Appointments, Nominations

By Taylor Avery

Because of the campus closure due to COVID-19, these meetings were conducted via Zoom.

APRIL 15

APPOINTMENTS

President, vice president sworn into office

Chief Justice Payton Heart swore in President Dominique Hall and Vice President Austin Brown to their respective offices. 

Senator Murphy is elected Speaker of the Senate

Senator Keegan Murphy from the College of Business was elected by the Senate body as the Speaker for the 88th session. He served as the speaker pro tempore in the 87th session.

Senator Doyle of the College of Liberal Arts was nominated as well, but ultimately lost by five votes.

Murphy, as his first act as Speaker, administered the oath of office to the senator-elects.

Senator Supple elected speaker pro tempore 

Senator Victoria Supple from the College of Liberal Arts was elected by the Senate body as the speaker pro tempore. 

Senators Luers, Ribeiro and Taylor werealso nominated for the position. 

Senator Harvey elected parliamentarian

Senator Lauren Harvey of the College of Liberal Arts was elected by the Senate body as the parliamentarian.

Jacob Bourgault of the College of Business was also nominated for the position. 

Senator for the College of Business

Leslie Ramirez was nominated and approved for the remaining vacant seat for the College of Business. Her goals as senator include improving the relationship between ASUN and the College of Business, giving a voice to the Latinx community and supporting new and existing clubs. 

Senator for the College of Education

Nicolina Priess was nominated and approved for the remaining vacant seat for the College of Education. Her goals include creating unity between the majors within the College of Education, increasing awareness of events on campus for students in the College of Education and creating a program that would pair students that are learning English with other students. She also wants to improve life on campus for underrepresented groups. 

APRIL 22

REPORTS

President Hall shares university updates during COVID-19 pandemic

ASUN President Dominique Hall shared with senators that she, along with Vice President Austin Brown and Speaker Keegan Murphy, had been in contact with President Johnson and other members of the University of Nevada, Reno’s administration. She shared that they discussed the proposed budget cuts by the Nevada System of Higher Education and how the university will use the funds received by the CARES Act to support students. 

APPOINTMENTS 

Office of Director for the Department of event programming

Wes Fullmer was approved by the Senate to fill the position of Director for the Department of Event Programming. 

Fullmer has been in ASUN for three years, including serving in multiple positions within Clubs and Organizations and Programming. His goals include creating a more diverse community during Homecoming Week, quality over quantity when it comes to Programming events and rebranding the Department of Event Programming. He also wants to host two concerts during the school year and increase sustainability within the department.  

Office of Director of Sustainability 

Elizabeth Guillen was approved by the Senate to fill the position of Director of Sustainability. 

Guillen interned previously with ASUN. Her ideas include implementing the same waste management system as the Den in the Downunder Cafe, distributing funds for projects that meet the Sustainable Nevada Initiative Fund Program, and adding more carpool parking spots. 

Office of Director of Campus and Public Relations

Kyla Kwan was approved by the Senate to fill the position of Director of Campus and Public Relations.

Kwan is the current vice president of the UNR Public Relations Student Society of America chapter and Insight Magazine PR Manager. Her goals include increasing ASUN’s visibility, increasing streamlined communication, and increasing efficiency with the Reno’s Best campaign. 

According to senators on the Committee on Oversight, Kwan said during a committee meeting that there was a secret plan about working with Inkblot she and President Hall could not disclose at that time. However, Kwan said she had not completed a plan when questioned by the Senate. Senator Supple raised questions about transparency. She was joined by Senator Taylor, Senator Torres, and Senator Doyle in voting against her nomination. 

President Hall clarified later in public comment that the plan was not secret, but was rather still in the works.

Office of Director for the Department of Clubs and Organizations

Nolan Lanza was approved by the Senate to fill the position of Director for the Department of Clubs and Organizations.

Lanza has served as a previous club commissioner. His goals include increasing accountability and development, implementing Campus Labs, adding club posting boards around campus, planning a conference for under-represented communities, and including department committees. 

Senators for the College of Community Health Sciences

The senators for the College of Community Health Sciences were nominated and approved because no candidates ran for the positions during the normal election cycle. There is one remaining open seat.

Autumn Kidd, a first year student, was approved for one of the seats. She shared her goals, which includes coming up with new ideas for the ASUN strategic plan, implementing health workshops, and working with UNR PD to add more blue lights on campus. 

Mattie Chantiyanon, a second year student, was approved for one of the seats. She has no previous ASUN experience. She was born in Thailand. Her goals include helping students with advising, increasing security and safety on campus, outreach with students on health related issues and fostering a more welcoming community on campus.

Committees

Senator Lopez and Senator Chantiyanon were elected to the Committee on Government Operations.

Senator Kidd was elected to the Committee on Academics and Student Affairs.

Senator Bourgault and Senator Kidd were elected to the Committee on Budget and Finance. 

Senator Bourgault was elected to the Committee on Democratic Civic Engagement.  

Senator Chantiyanon was elected to the Committee on Safety, Sustainability and Wellness.

Taylor Avery can be reached at oali@nevada.unr.edu or on Twitter @travery98.