Hope everyone’s semester is going great and hello from your 2023-24 Student Trustee. It’s my job to ensure that we the students are represented in one of the most powerful decision-making bodies of Butte College, the Board of Trustees.
The last meeting was held on 9/13 at the Glenn Center, which was a new experience for me as a student to see the new building for the first time. I wish the building were more set up to promote community among students, which should have been approved by students before it was built. This is a perfect example of the importance of our voices on campus, and how faculty, classified staff, management, etc, should include students in decisions made about us!
The Board of Trustees meeting started with informational reports from Student Services, Academic Senate (FACULTY), Classified Senate (CLASSIFIED STAFF), and management, and me. I mentioned how our Associated Student Government has been tabling a lot of the student life events.
I then informed the board of the progress one of our CTE senators is making in advocating for student parents on campus. She has created a survey for parents on campus to gather data on if there are enough students to advocate for daycare on Fridays. This is a real issue among stem student parents specifically, as most of their labs/classes are on Fridays, and there are no daycare services currently available on Fridays.
The most important takeaway besides approving our budget for this year was my defense of the student trustee privileges. This was set as an action item, which means it was ready for a vote. I raised my hand first for discussion and reminded the board of AB 1541, an assembly bill that was just passed requiring all California Community colleges to give their student trustee an advisory vote. An advisory vote allows the student trustee to give the student’s opinion and recommendation before the board votes, which is better than a full trustee vote because they must consider the student’s voice first!
I already knew that I had an advisory vote, but at the past 2 meetings, they haven’t been asking for my advisory vote before the vote, which is a miscommunication amongst the board. The new board policy in which they were voting on was missing the written information of the fact I get an advisory vote and was just missing general info. This document must be clear so that the next student trustee understands their rights and expectations from the board.
A win for the students, they tabled it to make my requested changes and will be reintroduced next meeting which will be held on Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. in the SAS Board Room on the main campus.
I encourage students to come not only to the once-a-month Board of Trustees meeting but especially to our Associated Student Government meetings every Tuesday 2-4 p.m. in the Campus Center Room 116. This is where you should come if you have any ideas, concerns, or questions about AS or the Board. We would love to tell you everything! Thank you, Liz Heaton.
