The Associated Students of Colorado State University convened Jan. 25 for the 16th session of the 52nd senate and the initial session of the spring 2023 semester.

The meeting began with a thorough presentation from Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation Chief Executive Officer and President Peter Waack and several student employees across the numerous branches of RMSMC ahead of upcoming contract negotiations with ASCSU that will determine the amount of funding RMSMC receives in future years.

RMSMC and ASCSU have been close partners since the corporation’s founding in 2008, with RMSMC heavily relying upon around $700,000 in yearly ASCSU funding to support student journalists across campus.

Due to rising inflation, company growth and proposed improvements to technology and office space, Waack said he believes more funding is required to ensure the survival and success of the company responsible for the employment of approximately 300 CSU students.

“I firmly believe that of all the money (ASCSU) spends across student media, your return on investment with Rocky Mountain Student Media is the highest of all,” Waack said.

Senate then heard from Vice President Elijah Sandoval, Director of Governmental Affairs Evan Welch, Director of Health and Wellness Alex Silverhart and President Rob Long on matters such as upcoming Student Fee Review Board meetings, the Day at the Capital event Feb. 16 and ongoing efforts to establish a program to distribute free pregnancy tests on campus.

“I love to work with everyone in the community. I feel like ASCSU should be a community where everyone comes and communicates with each other.” – Jorge Garcia, Director of Housing Security

CSU Director of Networking and Telecommunications Jason Huitt then updated the legislative body on the current state of RamWeb software used to facilitate the senate elections in April, conceding that the highly-requested ranked choice voting method for senate candidates will not be implemented this election cycle due to ongoing maintenance and scheduled improvements to the RamWeb operating system.

The ratification of director of housing security then took place.

The director of housing security is responsible for working to ensure members of the CSU community have access to affordable housing across Fort Collins and lobbying city council to repeal the contentious “U+2” residential policy that restricts the number of occupants allowed in a residence.

Jorge Garcia was nominated for the position.

“I love to work with everyone in the community,” Garcia said. “I feel like ASCSU should be a community where everyone comes and communicates with each other.”

Garcia was approved with unanimous consent.

Members of the ASCSU Elections Committee were then ratified.

The ASCSU Elections Committee is tasked with ensuring security, fairness, accessibility and transparency, which are integral parts of the ASCSU election process.

“It’s important that we, as a committee, make sure to remain open to new ideas and opinions that we don’t necessarily share,” candidate Dane Dinnsen said.

The candidates were approved with unanimous consent.

Continuing, the approval of Student Fee Review Board members took place.

The Student Fee Review Board is responsible for allocating revenue generated from CSU student funds to student organizations and programs across campus.

“(The money) is coming from students, but if it’s not going into programs that support them, we’re failing in our responsibility to handle that money that the students are entrusting us with,” candidate Nora Aslan said.

To conclude the session, the first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Affairs Committee chair was elected.

The DEI committee chair will be responsible for ensuring that all pieces of senate legislation are reviewed under the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion, in accordance with CSU and ASCSU’s principles of community.

Adrian Salazar was nominated for the position and approved with unanimous consent.

ASCSU Senate will resume Feb. 1.

Reach Sam Hutton at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @Sam_Hut14.