The Associated Students of the University of Wyoming met last night to begin their planning for this semester. Some of the more pressing discussions involved the Board of Trustees meeting to take place this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The board will discuss where the university is heading in regards to their search for a university president. The Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Dick McGintiy as Interim President early last December.
“Right now, some of the major, pressing things are things like what direction we want to go in about the president,” explained President Brett Kahler. “Is the direction to put a permanent person in place right now or stick with an interim and launch a search? Basically, just, where do we go next?”
Kahler encouraged his fellow senators to provide him with feedback as to where they stand on the issue of naming a president and the factors they feel are important for the board to consider in their discussion. Kahler also welcomes students to come to him with their thoughts and suggestions on the board’s decision.
“Student feedback, in general, is what I really look for. I’m always open to hearing the voice of any student on campus. So, if there’s 20, 30, or 400 students who want to come in to talk I will listen to them all day,” said Kahler, “It’s really important that the Board of Trustees knows where the students stand.”
Among talks of the Board of Trustees meeting, ASUW discussed the open seat within the senate. There are currently several open seats among various colleges, including the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Agriculture, and the College of Engineering. Vice President Kia Murdoch hopes to have the seats filled within the coming weeks so all of the colleges are adequately represented and the committees can begin their work for this semester.
“For the College of Agriculture and the College of Engineering right now, the election committee has opened up an application process,” explained Murdoch. “The election committee then conducts interviews based on the applications.
The agenda also included four RSO Funding Board Requests. Lamda Chi Alpha was among those who requested funding. The fraternity requested money for an ‘Anything but Clothes’ dance to take place this semester. After some debate, ASUW passed the request. The other RSOs that requested funding were RenUW, the Jazz Advocates of Wyoming, and the Associated Master’s of Social Work Students of Wyoming. All of the requests were granted.
