General Assembly 59th Session Legislation
GA 59th Session Minutes
Past Sessions
| Bill # | Bill Status | Title | Internal Status | Introducer | Seconder | Date | Members involved with implementation | Actions Taken Towards Implementation | Upcoming Action Steps/Recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill 57-56 | CLOSED | Adjust the ASMSU Gift Card Program | Approved | Polk | Boling | 12.10.2020 | VPFO Polk, Asst. VPFO Biel, Rep. Agarwal, Rep. Trevino, BOM Nicole Gonzales, President Abii-Tah | The program has effectively been updated as stipulated by the General Assembly | |
| Bill 57-55 | OPEN | Call for MSU to reassess the recent 2 year requirement | Approved | Ituralde | Kovach | 12.10.2020 | President Abii-Tah, VP Aiello, VP Sitar | I (President Abii-Tah) have invited Dr. Mark Largent and VP Vennie Gore to the first General Assembly meeting in January 2021. There they will get a chance to respond to our suggestions. VP. Sitar and I also met with Provost Woodruff to update her on students' reactions to the 2 year live on requirement. She told us that the policy will improve graduation rates and it will offer a community and resources especially to first year students who didn't get to spend this year on campus. Dr. mark Largent also sent us details which I shared with the General Assembly. The Provost said that she was will to hear our suggestions. That explains why Dr. largent and VP Gore will be coming in. | |
| Bill 57-54 | CLOSED | Approve SAB Members | Approved | Catalano | Teagan | 12.10.2020 | General Assembly | SAB members were approved as soon as the General Assembly voted for their approval | |
| Bill 57-53 | CLOSED | Support an ABTS Resolution for OER Materials | Approved | Ituralde | Chahal | 12.10.2020 | ASMSU committee to the ABTS conference | Legislation will be sponsored at the upcoming Winter Virtual ABTS Conference on January 30th 2021 | |
| Bill 57-52 | CLOSED | Clarifying Bill 57-31 | Approved | Ituralde | Grondin | 12.10.2020 | General Assembly | The bill was effectively clarified by the General Assembly's vote | |
| Bill 57-51 | OPEN | Advocate for Two Mental Health days | Approved | Grondin | Kovach | 12.10.2020 | VP Aiello, President Abii-Tah | We plan on bringing this up at our upcoming meetings with Provost Woodruff and Associate Provost Largent | |
| Bill 57-50 | OPEN | Recommend that MSU Culinary expands trainings | Approved | Harrison | Iturralde | 12.10.2020 | President Abii-Tah | I plan on bringing this up at my January meetings with Director Ray. Gasser and VP Gore | |
| Bill 57-49 | CLOSED | Amend the Code of Operation for Steering Responsibilities | Approved | Hanes | Lajiness | 12.10.2020 | ASMSU Advisor Erik Maillard, Asst. VPIA Georgia Frost, Comm Liaison Matt Apostle | ||
| Bill 57-48 | CLOSED | Amend the Code of Operations to change threshold for votes | Withdrawn by Bill Authors | Boling | Ackerson | 12.02.2020 | N/A | N/A | |
| Bill 57-47 | OPEN | Advocate for expanding off campus recycling | Approved | Lajiness | Grant | 12.10.2020 | ASMSU Director of Sustainability, Emily Miller, Representative Lajiness, Representative Grant | So far I (Director Emily Miller) have met with Joey Dearing to discuss displaying which apartments have recycling on the ASMSU website. She discussed the idea of an embedded Google Map on the sustainability page that shows the information. I have sent her the list of apartments and so that should be displayed as soon as she finishes up that project. Furthermore, Matt Apostle was also in that meeting and he is working with Joey to find an aesthetic way to display some of the results from his landlord satisfaction survey in accompaniment with the Google Map. I will be meeting with Chris Hewitt in the near future. We have not been able to find a meeting time that works for both of us yet. He is over at the MSU Surplus Store and has lots of knowledge on recycling in general, as well as the best way to get in touch with recycling companies who are willing to have a conversation - as all of my previous emails have been sent to a void never to be responded to. Once I find a good contact Emma, Blake, and I should set up a time to meet all together so that we can discuss the bill/ implementation. | |
| Bill 57-46 | CLOSED | Definition of a Student | Approved | Agarwal | Lajiness | 12.10.2020 | VP Catalano, Rep. Agarwal | ASMSU's resolution of support was confirmed once the General Assembly voted for it. The resolution was sent to UCSA where a vote to further support the document took place on January 15th 2021 | |
| Bill 57-45 | OPEN | Advocate for ASMSU to declare a Climate Emergency | Approved | Lajiness | Trevino | 12.10.2020 | President Abii-Tah | I (President Abii-Tah) met with President Stanley and the Board about declaring a climate emergency. I met with the board about it too around finals week. After my first meeting with him he said it was something he was willing to consider. He asked us to meet again after he has done research on the implications of the declaration. I met with him again on the 29th of December. By then he had completed his research and he said he was comfortable doing it but he wanted to do so when we have extensive communication about MSU's upcoming plans for sustainability ready to be shared. He felt that it will only carry weight if it is backed up. I asked him to give me a deadline given that this is a fairly urgent issue. He said that I should get back to him within one month and he'll have updates. Noihrita, my assistant, is working on scheduling my January meeting with him. Once that date is confirmed I'll have more updates. | |
| Bill 57-44 | OPEN | Advocate for a Student Representative on the University Investment Subcommittee | Approved | Lajiness | Trevino | 12.10.2020 | President Abii-Tah | On the 29th I (President Abii-Tah) talked to President Stanley about this bill. I had done my research and realized that it was mainly occupied by board of trustee members. President Stanley said he did not have the power to make that happen. The board makes that decision. He felt that our ask was probably not going to be approved because the role requires advanced technical skills that are not common from undergrads. So I asked him if students could at least serve as ex-officio members. That way the student can attend all the meetings and speak on all issues but they will not necessarily have a vote. He said that was a more doable suggestion and the board might find it easier to approve that. My next meeting with the board is in February but I'll reach the chair of the investment committee before then to start lobbying informally. | |
| Bill 57-43 | CLOSED for now | Create a COGS Liaison Position | Approved | Kovach | Grondin | 12.10.2020 | N/A | This bill becomes effective in Fall 2021 | |
| Bill 57-42 | CLOSED | Allocated funds to for OER Awareness | Approved | Ituralde | Kovach | 12.10.2020 | VP Polk, ASMSU Controller Gabriella Winters | Awaiting Updates | |
| Bill 57-41 | CLOSED | Allocate funds for East Lansing Information | Approved | Finerty | Lajiness | 12.10.2020 | VPFO Polk, ASMSU Controller Gabriella Winters | Awaiting Updates | |
| Bill 57-40 | CLOSED | Support Buying Prevention Materials | Approved | Woodruff | Modi | 12.10.2020 | VP Polk, ASMSU Controller Gabriella Winters | Awaiting Updates | |
| Bill 57-39 | CLOSED | Allocate funds to buy Seasonal Lights | Approved | Hanes | Sridhar | 12.10.2020 | VP Polk, ASMSU Controller Gabriella Winters | VP Polk met with the Dr. Gore on January 14th 2021 to discuss and get the required approval of the light therapy program in detail. He was in full support of the pilot and will provide written approval after my follow up. | |
| Bill 57-38 | CLOSED | Sponsor ABTS Resolution for Bill | Approved | Lajiness | Boling | 11.19.2020 | ASMSU committee to the ABTS conference | Legislation will be sponsored at the upcoming Winter Virtual ABTS Conference on January 30th 2021 | |
| Bill 57-37 | OPEN | Resolution for Supporting Student Athletes | Approved | Chahal | Modi | 11.19.2020 | President Abii-Tah, PR manager Brandon Crawford | I (President Abii-Tah) met with the board of trustees and President Stanley on this issue. During the meeting Director Bill Beekman was brought in to respond to the bill. He said that the conversation to cut the swim and dive program had be going on for years and there was nothing that could be done. I also met with the swim and dive team multiple times to prepare me to bring up their concerns to President Stanley. When I finally spoke to him, he said that MSU will need at least 2 million dollars yearly to revive those programs. The only way to do so is to probably to create an endowment. We talked about collaborating for a student fee with board of trustees to ensure that other programs are not cut. So far, ASMSU has been doing its best to support the swim and dive teams by sharing their posts and videos on social media. I have also been in the talks with VP. Vennie Gore to find ways to fund programs so that they are not cut. He has formed a small committee to look into that further and I have invited him to present their suggestions to the General Assembly whenever they are ready. | |
| Bill 57-36 | OPEN | Request Posted Lecture Material | Approved | Sridhar | Grondin | 11.19.2020 | President Abii-Tah, VP Aiello, Academic Committee | Letter to be sent to The circle of deans and faculty to advocate for this | |
| Bill 57-35 | OPEN | Move Spring Calendar Break Days | Approved | Kovach | Boling | 11.05.2020 | President Abii-Tah | President Abii-Tah | So far, I (Preseident Abii-Tah) have spoken to the president about study days for spring semester. He said that we are not sure of the Spring semester. The state might decide otherwise and we will have to revoke the 400 in person classes. He said that we'd have more clarity in three weeks. Three weeks later, the university decided to start classes a whole week late. Due to the numerous changes undergone for the Spring semester, administration has been worried about making additional changes. My plan is to bring it up to Associate Provost Mark Largent but chances are unfortunately starting to look very slim. |
| Bill 57-34 | CLOSED | Add Minimum 14-Day Notice of Furlough | Approved | Webb | Koovach | 11.05.2020 | President Abii-Tah | President Abii-Tah met with VP Vennie Gore and Director Ray Gasser. They both agreed to our demand. They met with HR and confirmed that it was doable. VP Gore comfirmed with me that it has been done. | |
| Bill 57-33 | CLOSED | Elections Code Runner-Up Clause | Approved | Trevino | Chahal | 11.19.2020 | ASMSU Advisor Erik Maillard, Asst. VPIA Georgia Frost, Comm Liaison Matt Apostle | The code has been updated to reflect the bill's changes as at January 16th 2021 | |
| Bill 57-32 | OPEN | Record in Class Lectures | Approved | Chahal | Ackerson | 11.05.2020 | President Abii-Tah, VP Aiello, Academic Committee | Letter to be sent to The circle of deans and faculty to advocate for this | |
| Bill 57-31 | CLOSED | Advocate for the Use and Expansion of OER | Approved | Iturralde | Grondin | 11.05.2020 | President Abii-Tah, VP Aiello | President Abii-Tah and VP Aiello brought this up to Provost Woodruff and she recommended we bring it up to faculty. President Abii-Tah also brought this up to Joe Salem and discussed ASMSU's potential funding of the program. Representative Ituralde has written an additiol bill to fund the expansion of the program. I also plan on sending a letter to faculty to encourage them to involve OER in the planning of their syllabi. VP Aiello has been working with the bill writers to plan an OER awareness week. This should help create even more awareness of the program | |
| Bill 57-30 | CLOSED | Furlogh Gift Cards | Approved | Isa | Boling | 11.05.2020 | VPFO Polk, President Abii-Tah, Asst. VPFO Biel, Rep. Agarwal, Rep. Trevino, BOM Nicole Gonzales | A total amount of 85,000 dollars was raised for the gift card program. In addition to the GA's 33,000 dollars, VP Polk and her team raised some money by advocating at class councils. The division of student affairs and servives donated an additional 35,000 dollars. After President Abii-Tah pitched the idea to the Provost, Provost Woodruff agreed to offer an additional 15,000 dollars. The bill authors and Finance and Operations department have been working with our Business office manager to review and approve student applications for funds. As at January 16th 2020, 800 total applications have been approved and $75 gift cards have been delivered. | |
| Bill 57-29 | CLOSED | Support the Decision of Obergefell V. Hodges (2015) | Approved | Lawson | Boling | President Abii-Tah, VPGA Sitar, Rep Travis Boling, PR Manager Brandon Crawford | When this bill passed, PR Manager Brandon Crawford followed up by posting the statement in the bill on ASMSU social media platforms. In addition, I (President Abii-Tah) and VP Sitar invited representative Boling to our November meeting with MSU's VP for Govt. Relations and Public Affairs. She had mentioned that there'd be hope for advocacy on this bill if democrats performed well during the November elections. Representative Boling was connected to individuals who could help to potentially push the bill forward. ASMSU reaffirms its commitment to continue to stand with the LGBTQ+ community. | ||
| Bill 57-28 | CLOSED | Support Satisfactory/Non-satisfactory Grading Policy | Approved | Ituralde | Woodruff | President Abii-Tah, VP Aiello, ASMSU Steering Committee, Rep. Ituralde, Rep. Hanes, Rep. Woodruff | After this bill passed, I (President Abii-Tah) decided to invite the other Big 10 presidents to write a joint statement to advocate for satisfactory/non-satisfactory grading. After drafting and releasing the statement with my counterparts, I sent it to Provost Woodruff and Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, Dr. Largent. VP Aiello and I then met with them and they agreed to implement S/NS Grading. It was then brought up to UCUE where Rep. Hanes and Rep. Itturalde further advocated for and voted for the policy. The Provost's official announcement for this policy came in a few days later. | ||
| Bill 57-27 | OPEN | Advocate for Changes to ADP | Approved | Kovach | Isa | 10.22.2020 | President Abii-Tah | I spoke with President Stanley about this and he showed interest. He mentioned that a committee might be formed soon to review the ADP policy and his chief of staff, Michael Zeig would reach out to me with details. Michael reached out to me a few days later with updates. He said that he had reached out to Associate Vice President Tanya Jachimiak and she had indicated that although there hasn’t been a formal review committee established yet, she is absolutely open to student involvement. The process is being defined and may include a committee or may be more direct engagement from her office with important stakeholder groups, but she has every intent to include students in the process. Iplan on reaching our to Associate VP Jachimiak again to ask her for updates on the process. | |
| Bill 57-26 | CLOSED | Condemn Use of ABA | Approved | Kovach | Iturralde | 10.22.2020 | President Abii-Tah, VP Aiello | The use of ABA stands officially condemned by ASMSU as the resolution stipulated. Additionally, President Abii-Tah made an official announcement of this stance in her reports at the University's steering committee. | |
| Bill 57-25 | CLOSED | Bill Resolution for the Dean of Students Office | Approved | Aiello | Sridhar | 10.22.2020 | The General Assembly | The resolution completed it's purpose as soon as it was voted upon by the General Assembly. ASMSU officially endorses the ammendments in the handbook as stipulated by the resolution | |
| Bill 57-24 | OPEN | Fair and Equal Housing Act | Approved | Lajiness | Boling | 10.22.2020 | VPGA Sitar | Awaiting Updates | |
| Bill 57-23 | CLOSED | SRP Suspension | Approved | Polk | Lajiness | 10.22.2020 | VPFO Polk | ASMSU safe ride program tax was successfully suspended for the Spring of 2021 | |
| Bill 57-22 | OPEN | Introduce Code of Academic Adivsor | Approved | Isa | Rha | 10.08.2020 | Rep. Nikunj Agarwal | Representative Agarwal presented this item at the University Council. Recommendations came from the council to move the bill's demands to the University Council for Undergraduate Education. After several meetings with stakeholders across campus, the bill's demands were moved to UCUE where a sub committee has been formed to address the issue | |
| Bill 57-21 | CLOSED | Endorse Web Cam Policy | Approved | Isa | Hanes | 10.08.2020 | The General Assembly, President Abii-Tah | The Web Cam Policy is officially endorsed by ASMSU. In Addition, President Abii-Tah wrote an official letter to President Stanley to explain and justify our stance. As at January 16th 2021, the Web Cam Policy is official at MSU | |
| Bill 57-20 | CLOSED | NetID & Spartan Mail Security Resolution | Tabled by Academic Committee and Withdrawn by Bill Authors | Morris | Webb | 10.01.2020 | N/A | N/A | |
| Bill 57-19 | CLOSED | Amendment to the ASMSU Manual | Approved | Harrison | Kakos | 10.08.2020 | ASMSU Advisor Erik Maillard, Asst. Comm Liaison Matt Apostle, VPIA Georgia Frost, | The manual has been updated to reflect the bill's changes as at January 16th 2021 | |
| Bill 57-18 | CLOSED | Class Ranked Partnership | Approved | Morris | Kakos | 09.17.2020 | ASMSU Lawyers, ASMSU Marketing Director Spencer Horan, ASMSU Advisor Erik, Rep. Morris, Rep. Kakos | ASMSU's marketing director Spencer Horan marketed ClassRanked in our December newsletter. ASMSU lawyers have also been working with the bill writers and our advisor to draft an official contact for the partnership between ASMSU and classRanked. | |
| Bill 57-17 | CLOSED | Pause Frat | Withdrawn by Bill Authors | Kovach | Iturralde | 09.17.2020 | N/A | N/A | |
| Bill 57-16 | CLOSED | Approve Director of IT & Marketing | Approved | Iturralde | Triltsch | 09.03.2020 | General Assembly | Director was approved as soon as the General Assembly voted for their approval | |
| Bill 57-15 | CLOSED | Call on MSU Culinary | Approved | Harrison | Kovach | 08.13.2020 | President Abii-Tah | I (President Abii-Tah) reached out to Director Ray Gasser and VP Vennie Gore to inform the of the stance that this resolution has taken | |
| Bill 57-14 | OPEN | PD Reconsider Moped Parking | Approved | Harrison | Webb | 08.13.2020 | Representative Harrison, Representative Webb, President Abii-Tah, VPFO Polk | I (President Abii-Tah) nominated the bill authors to represent ASMSU on the All University Traffic and Transportation Committee. This was to offer them the opportunity to advocate for their bill directly. According to Representative Harrison, "at the very first meeting, the committee had a report from the previous year with recommendations that wanted to cut moped parking. The bill writers also had a meeting with VPFO Polk and traffic officials and they shut the idea down. They did say that they would be willing to reconsider in the fall once campus is back to normal." My recommendation is for this bill to be picked up by ASMSU's 58th session in the Fall semester of 2021. | |
| Bill 57-13 | OPEN | Advocate For More Reflection Rooms | Approved | Saleh | MSA | 08.13.2020 | Rep Alan Saleh | Rep Alan Saleh shared the bill with REHS President Nasser. He is still awaiting a response. | |
| Bill 57-12 | CLOSED | Sponsor ABTS Legislation for Donor Accountability | Approved | Majzel (APASO) | Agarwal (ISA) | 7.16.2020 | ASMSU committee to the ABTS conference | Legislation will be sponsored at the upcoming Winter Virtual ABTS Conference on January 30th 2021 | |
| Bill 57-11 | CLOSED | Sponsor ABTS Legislation for OTP Visa | Approved | Isa | Apaso | 7.16.2020 | ASMSU committee to the ABTS conference | Legislation will be sponsored at the upcoming Winter Virtual ABTS Conference on January 30th 2021 | |
| Bill 57-10 | OPEN | Align EL Plea Bargain Policy Bill | Approved | Kakos | Hanes | 7.16.2020 | President Abii-Tah, ASMSU Lawyers, Matt Apostle | I (President Abii-Tah) worked with ASMSU lawyers to draft an official letter for this bill. I then sent the letter to Mayor Aaron Stephens and all the Lansing councilmembers. The Mayor showed interest in the bill and promised to bring it up to the rest of the councilmembers. We have had two phone calls to discuss progress on the bill. He mentioned that he has brought it up to the city attorney. He also mentioned that further discussion will be occuring on this issue at some point early 2021. Community Liaison, Matt Apostle, will also be advocating further on this issue. | |
| Bill 57-09 | CLOSED | SARV Ad Hoc Committe | Approved | Boling | Kovach | 7.16.2020 | Director of Health, Safety, and Wellness Mary Stout | Mary Stout championed the formation of this subcommittee. They met consistently on Monday during the Fall semester and will do same during the Spring semester. | |
| Bill 57-08 | OPEN | Stephen Hsu | Approved | Apaso | Bsa | 06.18.2020 | President Abii-Tah, VP Aiello, APASO, BSA, Cores and COPS | As we probably all know by now, Stephen Hsu has been demoted from his Vice President position. Last Thursday, I still shared this bill with President Stanley after the fact. We proceeded to discuss the possibility of getting him fired. As expected, the president responded that he cannot be fired as easily because he is protected both by freedom of academic research and his tenured position. Dr. Stanley did mention that he is committed to ensuring that moving forward, we do not have individuals in administrative positions with bigoted viewpoints like Stephen Hsu. I innitiated a small group under the leadership of VP Aiello to look into the feasibility and process of lunching an investigation on Stephen HSU to determine potential discrimination on his students. | |
| Bill 57-07 | OPEN | Call to Establish a Fund for Non-Citizen Students | Approved | Cru | Isa | 06.18.2020 | President Abii-Tah, CDEIO Shiksha Sneha, VPFO Polk, ISA (Nikunj Agarwal), CRU (Ricardo Paz), and dreaMSU | This bill asked MSU to create a scholarship fund for students who are not eligible for FAFSA due to citizenship status. I shared the bill with President Stanley on Thursday and we met earlier today. I introduced the bill to him, carefully outlining the importance of such a scholarship as Daylin and Nikunj mentioned in the bill. He was completely receptive to the idea. He agreed that the university should create such a scholarship. He said he will bring Financial Aid, MSU University Advancement, and other stakeholders together to identify our students who have been left in need due to FAFSA requirements for the CARES Act. I shared these updates with the bill writers and other stakeholders. I also initiated a small working group to continue advocacy. CDEIO Sneha and multiple CORES and COPS representatives have been on the ground working to establish the scholarship. As at January 18th 2021, President Stanley has officially endorsed the scholarship. CDEIO Shiksha Sneha, VPFO Polk, ISA (Nikunj Agarwal), CRU (Ricardo Paz), and dreaMSU have formed a task force for implementation. They meet monthly with Dr. Frazier who, in turn, is working with Budget and Planning to look at fundraising avenues. They are also meeting with other administrators to brainstorm ways we can further support immigrant students on campus! | |
| Bill 57-06 | OPEN | Advocated for Changes in MSUPD | Approved | Bsa | Cru | 06.18.2020 | VP Sitar, CDEIO Sneha, Rep. Brianna Jones, BSA President Sharron, and Rep Roblero | Even before this bill passed, Shika, Sharron and I had had numerous meetings with administrators. As soon as the bill passed, I shared it with COGS and RHA and we all agreed to add it to the agenda for the student liaison board of trustees meeting. Progress Made - COGS used our bill as a template for a resolution which they passed at their General meeting last week. I have attached their version below. This means we are advocating collaboratively and we have backing from Graduate students. - During the board of Trustees meeting, Police Chief Kelly Roudebush was invited to respond to our queries. After introducing the bill to the board, I made the bill's four demands and Chief Roudebush responded to each. - First, I asked MSUPD to release information on the demographics of traffic stops. Chief Roudebush said that they do not keep those records. However, she promised that starting Fall semester, they will keep a daily activity log. All police officers will be required to report those details daily and the information gathered will be made accessible. - Secondly, I also asked for transparency regarding the investigations against those two. Chief Roudeboush said that she legally is not allowed to comment on the issue. At some point during the conversation though, she talked about her upcoming assistant police chief so it is my impression that O'Brien might no longer be holding the position or receiving a salary for long. - Third, I asked that they stop their use of pepper spray on students. She said that out of 20,000 police calls in the last year, there have only been 15 uses of force. She mentioned that the pepper spray was used to disperse crowds who were acting violently during the May 31st protests. She did not give a direct answer regarding further use of pepper spray so there is room for more advocacy on this. - Fourth, I asked that police officers should no longer respond to students' mental health concerns. She agreed with us, saying that they are open to different ways of handling such situations. She said they are willing to hire a social worker to respond to such instances. So we need to continue this conversation with them. - Last, I asked MSU to review MSUPD's budget, as well as remove unnecessary funding and oversee salary cuts where necessary. President Stanley and some members of the board responded that there definitely is a need for an Independent Police Oversight Committee. with student representation. This is something we should be able to push for - I also invited Chief Rouderbush to our next GA meeting. She accepted the invitation but the meeting was attended by interim Chief Doug Monette. He updated us that a social worker has been hired to work with officers in responces to mental health crises. He also mentioned that the budget has been made public on the website. I also innitiated the formation of a small group made up of the bill authors, CDEIO Shiksha Sneha, and VP Sitar to continue advocacy - VP Sitar also met with some of the officers in MSUPD. Ptior to her resignation, she had also been championing efforts to create a student advisory board that will comprise of students, especially CORES and COPS. It is my hope that upcoming VPGAs pursure and complete the project. President Stanley also invited me to serve on the search committee for the new Police Chief for MSUPD to ensure that we select a police chief who listens to students. | |
| Bill 57-05 | OPEN | Donor Accountability | Approved | Apaso | Isa | 06.18.2020 | President Abii-Tah, Rep. Majzel, CDEIO Sneha, VP. Catalano, Rep. Agarwal, CORES and COPS groups | So far, I (President Abii-Tah) shared the bill with President Stanley. CORES and COPS met him about the same issue. He expressed his disappointment at Larry Gaynor but mentioned that Larry Gaynor had apologized. I asked him if we could simply refund Larry Gaynor the 3 million USD and then cut all ties with him. He responded that he did not want to set a precedent like that for donors. He mentioned that everyone should be given the opportunity to change and have a second chance. I geared the conversation towards a screening process for donors so that those with a History of bigotry are not celebrated. He agreed that donors who have hurt people with their actions in the past or make their money illegally should not be associated with MSU. However, it can be more difficult to quantify hate speech in this subjective society. He said that MSU, like every other university, doesn't have a screening process. I also innitiated a small working group to continue advocating for this. CDEIO Shiksha Sneha, Rep. Majzel, and other CORES and COPS reps championed a bill to advocate for this at the 2021 Association of Big Ten Students Conference | |
| Bill 57-04 | CLOSED | Advocate for Optional Visa | Approved | Isa | Apaso | 06.18.2020 | President Abii-Tah, Rep Agarwal | So far, I (President Abii-Tah) have brought this up to: 1) Dr. Steven Hanson: Associate Provost and Dean for International Studies and Programs. 2) Krista McCallum Beatty: Director of Office for International Students & Scholars (OISS) 3) President Stanley 4) State News Reporters All three administrators highlighted that this was a priority for their offices. With the recent suspension of H1-B visas, all three administrators share our fear that OPT might be next. President Stanley confirmed that the university has reached out to the Trump administration. They have also reached out to the University of Michigan, the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP), and the Association of American Universities (AAU). He emphasized that numerous organizations across the US are fighting for the demands of this bill. Unfortunately, this is not a senate decision so no matter who advocates, President Trump will make the final decision. MSU lobbyists in DC are putting the pressure needed but a higher ed institution can only do so much. I have innitiated a small working group that will focus on creating awareness about the issue. This group comprised of Representative Agarwal who took advocacy to the next level by writing legislation that will be introduced at the 2021 Association of Big Ten Students Winter Conference. | |
| Bill 57-03 | CLOSED | Approve Director of Marketing | Approved | Hanes | Lajiness | 06.18.2020 | General Assembly | Director was approved as soon as the General Assembly voted for their approval | |
| Bill 57-02 | CLOSED | Approve 2020-2021 ASMSU Budget | Approved | Rider | Teagan | 04.15.2020 | General Assembly | Budget was approved as soon as the General Assembly voted for their approval | |
| Bill 57-01 | CLOSED | Approve 2020-2021 Directors | Approved | Catalano | Aiello | 04.08.2020 | General Assembly | Directors were approved as soon as the General Assembly voted for their approval |
Public Comment
Public Comment Sign-in
According to Title II, Section 11 Item C of ASMSU’s Code of Operations outline in our Constitution:
 During public comment on agenda items, any topic may be discussed up to 15 minutes unless extended by a majority vote of the assembly. Any student may speak, but only once, with a three minute time limit unless extended by consent of the General Assembly
The agenda is in the drop-down menu to the right.