Smoking ban approved
Plans for a campus-wide smoking ban have been approved by a university-employee union, allowing it to move forward, Nancy Demich, assistant to the vice president of business and financial affairs, told the Associated Students Board of Directors at its Nov. 4 meeting.
Unions on campus are able to request a meet and confer process with the university whenever a change is suggested that may affect working conditions, Chief Communications Officer Greg Block said. The California State University Employees Union was the only union to request the process, Block said. The union has been in talks with the university since September after the University Senate passed a resolution to make San Diego State a smoke-free campus in April.
An implementation committee led by university architect Robert Schulz will meet Nov. 13 to figure out logistics, Demich said.
The ban would remove the 12 designated smoking zones currently around campus, making the campus completely smoke-free. However, there is not yet an effective date for when the ban will actually be implemented, Demich said.
The implementation committee had previously been expected to meet in late September or early October, Demich said.
Student services staff
Acting Vice President of Student Affairs Eric Rivera informed the board of the two latest additions to student support staff.
Peer advisor in the College of Business Administration Heather LaPerle, has been hired as the university’s internship coordinator and should assume her new role in the upcoming weeks, Rivera said.
LaPerle’s responsibilities will include coordinating with internship advisors from the other colleges to ensure consistent policies across the university, Rivera said.
“What Heather LePerle’s going to do is bring them all together so that they can coordinate in a centralized fashion, so we’re following the same guidelines, the same policies,” Rivera said.
Rivera added that the university has encountered dubious internship opportunities in the past and a coordinator is needed to provide oversight to protect students.
“There’s a risk piece to this also,” Rivera said. “As some of our coordinators go out and create internship opportunities we want to make sure we do a site visit and make sure that it’s legit.”
Rivera also expressed enthusiasm for Student Disability Services Director Pamela Starr after her first month on the job.
A.S. appointments moving along
Applicant interviews for some open positions in A.S. will begin this Wednesday, while others will be postponed for lack of applicants, A.S. Judicial Affairs Council Chief Justice Sean Guardian told the board.
Applicants for two positions, sustainability commissioner and elections coordinator, will be interviewed as early as Wednesday, Guardian said. He said the goal is to appoint members to those positions by the end of the month.
The application period for one vacant student-at-large representative position will be extended because of a lack of qualified applicants. The A.S. Judicial Affairs only received one eligible applicant for the position, Guardian said.
A.S. Executive Vice President Becca Cohen said the low turnout may be due to ineffective recruitment strategies by A.S.
“We’re worried that the reason the turnout was lower than expected is because we’re targeting students that already don’t want to be involved necessarily with A.S.,” Cohen said.
A.S. President Josh Morse said the strategy of broad engagement with students was necessary to combat nepotism.
“The reason why we made it so objective and so far-reaching … is because we don’t want to just look to our friends and say how can I get my friend to my right and to my left onto BOD or into any position,” Morse said.
The Judicial Affairs Council also plans to complete a review of proposed amendments to the bylaws and charters of various commissions and charters by the end of the month, Guardian said.
