Editor’s note: Jayla Hodge is the opinion editor of The Rocky Mountain Collegian. 

In the Associated Students of Colorado State University’s special session on Tuesday following the snow day, the Senate discussed changes to current job descriptions and passed a proposal for a bird feeder project.

Job description changes

President-elect Ben Amundson presented a bill discussing the establishment of the executive job descriptions to the Senate for the 2019-20 academic year.

One of the primary questions regarding the bill was that of how the compensation would shift as a result of the proposed lowered work hour requirements.

In his proposal, Amundson said the vice president is getting $500 more. He also said that the required hours have been reduced.

“We talked to a lot of directors and deputy directors, and all of them told us that they weren’t in the office 20 hours a week — all except one,” Amundson said. “We realized that most people aren’t actually fulfilling their 20 hours.”

The original requirement was 20 hours. Now, the requirement will be 15 hours.

“We didn’t change the compensation,” Amundson said. “We’re just saying more realistic hours on how long they work.” 

Sen. Jayla Hodge asked why the compensation hasn’t changed to show the difference between this year’s and next year’s hour changes.

“We actually think, on balance, this is how much a director works,” Amundson said. “So we lowered their hours but, on balance, they aren’t reaching the 20-hour mark. So we’re paying people the same amount, in our eyes, for the same amount of work even while the minimum wage is increasing.”

Amundson said he’s nervous of receiving further questioning if he cuts the pay.

Hodge asked why Amundson wouldn’t focus on making sure the given responsibilities match the given hours required to work.

“I think that’s why we cut the hours — there aren’t enough responsibilities for them to work 20 hours a week,” Amundson said. “So, we’re saying this is more accurately reflecting the responsibilities that they have and how long they actually will work in a week.”

In addition to these changes, two jobs are going to be taken out in the next academic year, according to the bill.

One of the jobs that won’t exist next year will be the controller, a position in charge of ASCSU’s financial reporting.

“After some financial errors after the past several years, not the previous administration’s fault, the University decided to hire one in SLiCE who’s going to do all our accounting,” Amundson said.

The second job being taken out will be the deputy director of health.

“The only reason that’s being gotten rid of is that the person who had that position recommended that it doesn’t need to be taken to next year,” Amundson said. “So they said they didn’t do much work, so we’re going to get rid of it.”

Other changes that were presented included the Ram Leadership team. Amundson said they’ll be adding more deputies and directors to this team in hopes of keeping freshmen interested and involved.

“We think we can do freshmen well,” Amundson said. “We had roughly 100 freshmen come to the first Ram Leadership team meeting. At the third one, we had probably 10 or 15. If we can retain that better and get those students interested and get them things to be involved with, that would be a good idea.”

Amundson also spoke about plans for the Leadership, Equity, Accountability and Diversity Council next year.

“We put that in the job descriptions that several people have to attend that council, because that was a promise we made during the campaign season,” Amundson said.

The bill was sent to the Internal Affairs Committee.

CSU Ornithology Feederwatch Project

A resolution presented by Sean Washington and Nolan Bunting proposed for bird feeder sites to be set up in order for University students to take part in research about the diversity of birds on the campus.

Washington said that Colorado has 507 bird species and that Fort Collins is home to around 400 of these each year.

The plan is to set up roughly five bird feeders on campus in places that are far from residence halls, other buildings, high traffic areas and has a diverse bird population.

According to the resolution, students will be able to sign up for a shift to watch a feeder ranging from 30-90 minutes from a Google Drive available on the club’s website.

“By looking at the overall diversity of species on campus, we can see if CSU is really keeping its promise to be a green school and help the diversity of wildlife,” Washington said. “We can also see if birds are migrating earlier or later than they usually would.”

The resolution passed with a 21-0-0 vote.

Charlotte Lang can be reached news@collegian.com or on Twitter @ChartrickWrites.