Undergraduate student government holds a meeting to discuss bills and budgeting for ASU organizations on campus. USG is currently working on fixing website issues so that they can provide better access to senate meeting minutes and agendas. (Photo by Katie Dunphy)Undergraduate student governments across the four campuses are working to provide better access to senate meeting minutes and agendas by fixing website issues in a timely manner.
The USG websites have been a problem for the past few years, and the senators and presidents are looking for ways to solve the issue before the spring semester.
USG Tempe Senate President Pro Tempore Tristian Trevino said he has seen the problem with the website in the past and lack of communication is partially the cause.
“Last year, the senate president didn’t keep the website updated, and it’s something we need to stay on top of and get fixed quickly,” he said. “We are looking at changing bylaws to designate someone in the senate or provide access to our web designer.”
Senate bylaws state the senate secretary is supposed to provide the information, but the Tempe USG does not have a secretary. Instead, it has a parliamentarian, and it rests on the senate president to make sure the website is updated, Trevino said.
Tempe USG President Jordan Davis said he thinks the bylaws across the four campuses should be changed to make the posting times unilateral for everyone.
“I think the bylaws for all campuses should be in line,” he said. “All postings timeframes should be the same for agendas and minutes.”
Davis also said lack of communication is to blame for the website not being updated in a timely manner.
“We have had some issues with communication between senators and the webmasters throughout the semester,” he said. “It is something we are really working to fix, and it is just inexcusable.”
USG West President Howard Waldie IV has also experienced issues with the USGW website as it has been unable to be updated the entire semester. He said he thinks creating a new website is in the organization's best interest.
“We are creating a new website which will be up and running soon,” he said. “If it is not up by the end of the semester, we will be launching our own new website which we will pay for with operation funds.”
Providing information to students and having complete transparency is very important to Waldie, he said.
“It is extremely important for us to get the information up in a timely and accurate manner,” he said.
Transparency is also important for Trevino and said every year it is difficult to provide.
“Every year, transparency is the biggest issue,” he said. “Money as well as we are operating on a tight budget and we want to be able to do more marketing on senate meetings and have a bigger effort to get the information out there.”
Information on all Tempe USG meetings is available on the third floor of the Memorial Union at the Tempe campus.
“All senate bills signed by the USG president and senate president are available at the Senate offices,” Trevino said. “Volumes of bills from 1960s to 2002 and last year's senate bills are all available and easily accessible.”
Davis said if students can’t find the information, they need to contact him.
“Students can ask anyone on the third floor of MU for information, and if they don’t know where it is, they can be directed to me,” he said. “My personal phone number is on my business cards."
Reach the reporter at jshanco2@asu.edu or on Twitter @Joey_Hancock
