Student government groups have been presented with an opportunity to bring a student issue to the state level, but the process of selecting an issue may mean a delay until February.
ASU’s Undergraduate Student Government Downtown has been a part of the Arizona Student Government Collaborative: a collaboration with the Arizona Board of Regents between student governments at all ASU campuses, Northern Arizona University and University of Arizona.
Earlier in the year, ABOR extended a formal offer to the collaborative to choose an agenda point that will be addressed at their meetings spanning November 18 – 20.
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USGD President Corina Tapscott expressed that this specific invitation from ABOR is consistent with ABOR’s history of addressing student-raised issues.
“The Arizona Board of Regents is really striving for the betterment of students,” Tapscott said.
She sees this meeting as an opportunity to bring student initiatives directly to the state and to question university policies.
“A lot of people turn to authority and they blindly follow it,” Tapscott said. “Just because it’s someone in a position higher than you, we still want to question it and see if it’s the best thing to do.”
But with ABOR’s November meeting coming up in a matter of weeks, the collaborative has yet to decide on an agenda point.
According to Tapscott, many issues raised by student government are solved at the university level and not the state.
The obstacle at hand is deciding on an issue to present to the state, and USGD has approved ABOR’s stances so far – even being the only campus in the collaborative to formalize support in legislation.
“We were astounded by how incredibly receptive (ASU President) Michael Crow was to what the students wanted,” Tapscott said.
Tapscott said that while it is possible that a decision will be made in time for ABOR’s November meetings, the offer might be delayed until ABOR’s next meeting in February.
Arizona Student Regent Mark Naufel encourages that these concerns be addressed, but clarified that this invitation is not the only opportunity for student engagement. He explained that students who are not a part of student government can bring concerns to ABOR meetings during their Call to the Audience, go through student government representatives or even contact him directly.
“It is a big deal that students are being invited to be a part of the agenda, but it’s not new,” Naufel said.
Jhavia Jackson is a student working with the ASU branch of Degrees Not Debt, a national campaign pushing for college affordability. The organization suggested mandatory student loan counseling as an idea to be raised at the state level.
“I didn’t understand the impact that my student loans would have coming in,” Jackson said. “I thought my scholarships would cover a majority of it, and while they did, it wasn’t enough for me to be financially stable.”
According to Naufel, ABOR is open to student ideas, but student affordability is already considered a top priority.
“I think students would be surprised how much we address at ABOR regarding affordability, and students have a say in that on every level,” he said.
Naufel wants USGD to carefully consider any possible agenda point and ensure it cannot be solved at the university level before bringing it to ABOR.
“It is important that they take time to decide an issue that they think is important to address in this venue,” Naufel said. “And that if there isn’t one, that they don’t bring one up just for the sake of bringing one up.”
Contact the reporter at csmannin@asu.edu.
