草榴社区

aerial view of Western's campus at night, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

Associated Students elections are April 25 to 29

Western Today staff

Voting in the Western Washington University Associated Students elections will be open for students Monday through Friday, April 25 to 29. Twenty candidates are vying for seven positions in this year's elections. Two referenda -- one regarding funding for a new multicultural center on campus and another regarding GUR reform -- also are . Voting will be conducted online at .

wording:

Multicultural center

Shall the students of Western Washington University taking six or more credits on the Bellingham Campus be assessed a fee of up to 30 dollars a quarter to expand the building space for a Multicultural and Ethnic Student Center facility under the following conditions?

  • The building is open and accessible to all 草榴社区 students
  • The expanded space will primarily house an expanded Ethnic Student Center and Multicultural Services
  • Finally, with the understanding that student fees will not be the only source of funding the expanded space. A vote “yes” provides the ability for bond funding a major expansion for the purposes listed in this referendum

This referendum is put forth to the students of Western Washington University to support the shared vision of our community that works hard to create a just, caring, and diverse campus. The student fee would provide approximately 60% of the cost to create new space and renovate existing spaces that would not only increase the size of the Ethnic Student Center by over five times, but would create a highly visible and accessible presence from the main Viking Union Plaza level.   Other funding sources would partner to create this space to support our growing diverse population and engage the campus to better understand other cultures.

Architects have created preliminary sketches adding levels above the Viking Union Multipurpose Room and above the Bookstore with connecting lobbies or sky bridges being possible.  Students will be engaged throughout the planning process.  The fee would not be charged until Fall 2017 at the earliest.

GUR reform

The following referendum questions are designed to provide student feedback to faculty as they discuss the possibilities of revising and improving Western’s General Education (GUR) program. Please note that these questions are non-binding and are advisory in nature.

Please review the “2016 General Education Task Force Report”: 2016 General Education Task Force Report. The report discusses possible General Education models and opportunities for improvement to inform discussions on the improvement of General Education.

Please be aware that this referendum is one of multiple ways to provide feedback on this issue.  There is also a survey designed specifically for students.  As always, questions, concerns, and feedback can be emailed to ASVP for Academic Affairs Zach Dove at asvp.academics@wwu.edu.

  • Question 1:  How important to you is revising General Education (GUR's) at Western? 
  • Question 2:  Which aspects of the proposed General Education program models do you think are most crucial to address in order to improve your satisfaction with the program? (rank in order of preference) 
    • Improved diversity requirement: 
      • This aspect refers to the “Comparative, Gender, and Multicultural Studies” (ACGM & BSGM) section of the GUR program, more commonly referred to as the “diversity” requirement. Currently, as discussed in the “General Education Task Force Report”, this section currently has the possibility of reinforcing a Western/non-Western dichotomy, creating a ‘cultural tourism’ model of understanding difference, and not necessarily educating students on issues such as social stratification, power, privilege, race, gender, class, sexual orientation, ability, etc. 
      • Recommended changes include developing a foundations category that does address these issues, better articulating the goals of this section, as well as redefining the HUM section to be more inclusive of all people’s traditions and cultures. These are steps designed to bring this requirement into the 21stcentury.
      • Please see pages 8 and 16 of the report for more information.
    • Coherent (understandable and consistent) structure and goals of the program
      • As documented in multiple surveys, both students and faculty are often unable to articulate the goals and purpose of the General Education (GUR) program. Furthermore, students often don’t see immediate value in the program, instead seeing it as merely requirements that they must check off in order to graduate.
      • Recommended changes include clearly defining the core goals of the program and basing the distribution of courses on these goals as opposed to content, developing a strong rationale for the program, and re-naming the program to capture its importance.
      • Please see pages 8 and 16 of the report for more information.
    • Relevance to major
    • Fewer total required credits
    • Ways to apply learning to real life situations
    • Better writing and communication instruction
    • Continuous general education instruction spread out across college career

In addition to the referenda, the following positions within the AS government are up for vote:

President

  • Marco Morales
  • James Molyneux-Elliot
  • Stephanie Cheng

VP for Activities

  • Anuka Ganbat
  • Rosa Sanchez
  • Alex Lavallee

VP for Academic Affairs

  • Fahren Mansour
  • Iris Hubbard
  • Erick Yanzon

VP for Student Life

  • Octavia Schultz
  • Hannah Spencer
  • Tyler Le
  • Wayne Rocque

VP for Governmental Affairs

  • Michale Puentes-Alkire
  • Bryce Hammer

VP for Business & Operations

  • Mary Moeller
  • Bill Martin

VP for Diversity

  • Nathaniel Williams II
  • Aleyda Cervantes
  • Vickey Matey