On Friday, Oct.18, the Associated Student Government voted on a Vice President of Internal Affairs and arranged which board members would attend campus committees.
Starting off the meeting, Keller Magenau spoke to ASG regarding research and planning at City College along with information regarding the Institutional Effectiveness Committee which is tasked with redesigning participatory governance and decision-making processes, and institutional planning.
“My goal when I came to Santa Barbara City was to start to focus on how we can better bring students into the conversation,” Magenau said. “How do we make sure that we’re listening to students and have students help us know what questions we’re not asking and what questions we should be asking? ”
Commissioner of International Student Affairs Lauren Merz and Student Trustee Bruce Tan volunteered to represent the student government on the committee for the 2024 – 25 school year. They will provide the committee with student input and shape the ways that students can participate in student governance.
Continuing with the meeting, ASG voted Student Advocate Yonatan Libman into the role of Vice President of Internal Affairs position. The responsibilities of the role include ensuring that commissioners know their roles and fulfill their duties.
During his interview, Libman cited his experience in ASG during the 2023-24 school year and how he worked closely with the previous Vice President of Internal Affairs. He also brought up a need for accountability, transparency, and organization.
“Last year, I was able to sit on ASG and through that, I was able to see structurally how the board grows over the school year,” Libman said a part of that that came with getting to know and work with our previous VP Internal, and seeing what she did, or how she was successful in the role through an organizational standpoint.”
Libman also mentioned how he would work to meet one-on-one with fellow ASG members to create a space where they can feel comfortable communicating on both a personal and professional level. He also mentioned issues that the previous Vice President of Internal Affairs had to face and developed a plan on how to address them in the future.
“I think there could be a really interesting way of getting accountability for people putting in their reports, and making sure there’s an actual schedule in terms of submitting things to have by each Friday,” Libman said “I think some form of accountability could help streamline that process.”
This now leaves Libman’s former position as Student Advocate open to the board as well as the rest of the student body.
Concluding the meeting, Riley Wilson appealed to the ASG regarding the need for a student veterans academic counselor.
According to Wilson’s research, City College accepts $66,627 in funds to upkeep Veteran needs and programs on campus but has failed to provide Veterans on campus with adequate academic counseling support.
Wilson has also started a petition to get an academic counselor with more hours in the VA office.
The student body promised to mention Wilson’s concerns in public comments at the Board of Trustees meeting and continue to keep in contact with campus committees about the need for a Student Veteran Academic counselor.
The next ASG board meeting will be held Oct. 25
