Legislation expressing support for a movement to pay student teachers for their work, a resolution requesting a presentation to the senate on the PACK AI program, and a resolution requesting transparency on course fees implemented within the College of Science were passed during the Oct. 22 meeting of the Senate of the Associated Students of the University of Nevada (ASUN). The senate also considered several candidates to fill the vacant College of Engineering seat on the senate, and heard presentations from multiple organizations.
Legislation
“S.R. 93 – A Resolution to Ensure Transparency in the Use of Laboratory Course Fees” creates a formal request from the senate to the College of Science asking that financial statements be made available to students detailing how laboratory course fees are used.
The resolution’s author, College of Science Senator Ken Bhardwaj, said that while the resolution is specifically focused on the College of Science, it creates a legislative precedent for other colleges to request course fee transparency with similar legislation.
The resolution passed unanimously.
“S.R. 93 – A Resolution in Support of the UofNEA’s Advocacy for Student Teacher Compensation” would establish formal support from the senate for the University of Nevada Education Association’s (UofNEA) movement to make student teacher positions at UNR paid. The UofNEA is the UNR chapter of the National Education Association – the largest teacher’s union in the country, which negotiates contracts for teachers in all of Nevada with the exception of Clark County.
Speaker Pro Tempore and College of Education and Human Development Senator Dillon Moss, who authored the resolution, said that student teachers are not compensated for the immense amount of work they put in and are discouraged from seeking other employment while student teaching. The Nevada Sagebrush previously covered the UofNEA’s push for student teachers to be paid in 2024.
Moss told the senate that there was no financial pledge attached to the resolution, and that it was just an expression of support.
The resolution passed unanimously. Moss thanked the senate for passing it, saying it was a big part of his campaign for the senate and that he had originally drafted the resolution while campaigning.
“S.R. 93 – A Resolution to Request Clarity on the Rollout of PACK AI into Academic Curriculum” asks university administration to give a detailed presentation on PACK AI to the senate and to provide the student body with more information about the program.
This is a revised version of legislation introduced earlier in the 93rd session that failed to pass after senators opposed the bill’s overly condemnatory nature. The original resolution was explicitly against PACK AI, whereas the updated version only seeks more information.
One of the resolution’s authors, Parliamentarian and College of Liberal Arts Senator Jason Issa, said that he and several other senators had a meeting with UNR Provost Jeffrey Thompson who clarified some details about PACK AI. Thompson told the senators that using PACK AI is not mandatory and is only a certificate that students can optionally enroll in, zero student fees are being used to create the program, and student data is not being fed into AI.
Issa also said that Thompson agreed with the concerns outlined in the resolution being considered and had pledged to present more information about PACK AI to the senate during the spring semester.
College of Liberal Arts Senator Alexander Saporito asked if university leadership had also explicitly agreed to increase communication to the student body with more information about PACK AI, as mentioned in the resolution. Issa said that they had not, but were told that university leadership understood the student reaction and confusion.
College of Business Senator Matthew Hoang and College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources Senator Grace McAndrews both voiced support for the resolution, mentioning that they had opposed the original resolution but were pleased with the current iteration.
The resolution passed unanimously.
College of Engineering Candidates Considered
While four candidates were on the agenda to be considered for the vacant senate seat representing the College of Engineering, only two were in attendance.
Royce Roque, a fifth-year mechanical engineering major, pitched himself as someone who wanted to improve communication between students, faculty and ASUN. Roque also said he wanted to improve the aerospace engineering program as a senator for the College of Engineering.
Brian Price, a freshman and current ASUN intern, said he wanted to increase transparency about scholarship specifics at the university and encourage the university to revise the meal plan system for the dining hall, which Price said incentives skipping meals by offering plans with a low amount of meals per week. Price also pitched a shadowing program for engineering students and said that he wanted to create a hydroponics farm system construction challenge within the College of Engineering that would be funded by ASUN.
Multiple senators said that they were unimpressed with Roque’s presentation, and that they appreciated Price’s enthusiasm though they agreed his ideas were flawed.
Issa said that he wanted to vote against both candidates. A string of senators voiced agreement with him, with several mentioning that they thought stronger candidates could be found within the college.
Seventeen senators voted for neither candidate, two cast their votes for Price, and zero voted for Roque. Because the majority of votes were for neither, no candidates were appointed and the College of Engineering senate seat remains open. The School of Journalism, the School of Public Health and the College of Business also have vacant senate seats.
Presentations
The university’s veteran’s services office presented to the senate about what their office does to support both veterans attending UNR and UNR students with family or friends who are veterans. He thanked the senate’s Committee for Democratic and Civic Engagement for hosting a veteran’s luncheon, and encouraged the senate to consider non-traditional students in their event planning.
UNR’s Counseling Services also presented, showcasing a variety of data points about high student satisfaction with their office and an increase in demand for their services. Demand for preventative services such as their Let’s Talk sessions has gone up, while demand for clinical services has decreased.
ASUN’s Department of Government Affairs gave a presentation about their work during the last legislative session. Government Affairs said they track state-level bills that could affect students and give public comment for or against them to the legislature. Their staff went over some of the many bills that they tracked and informed the senate of their fate, with many housing rights bills in particular failing to pass the legislature or being vetoed by Governor Joe Lombardo.
Government Affairs said that they would do the same during the likely upcoming special legislative session. After the presentation, Government Affairs Director Kennedy Taylor tearfully resigned and thanked her colleagues, saying that she was pursuing the next step in her personal and professional growth.
Riley Overstreet can be reached via email at roverstreet@unr.edu.
For tips, complaints and corrections, please contact News Editor Riley Overstreet via email at roverstreet@unr.edu.
