Day 16 - Academic Senate

Coaches fell behind in the past month and a half with activity hours. When those were submitted, I went through each sport and checked if they were compliant with their hours.

Ben had asked me to write a proposal asking for several computers for student athletes in their academic center. A copy of the proposal can be found in the project section of the website.

Today was the monthly meeting of the academic senate. I was really excited to sit in on this meeting and here about different academic related issues are occurring and how the university solves the issues. However, Ben warned me that many of the things the academic senate votes on is non-academic related. Even the proposal of priority registration should not be voted by the senate, rather the process should be brought to enrollment services. Ben was right. In the 2 hours I sat in, they spoke about marijuana use and possible legalization, sleeping on campus, students and faculty drinking on campus, student-faculty relationships, and many more issues. I easily became bored with some topics. Finally, during the open forum we had the chance to speak but they let the athletics department be the last to speak with barely 5 minutes before adjourning. The following were mentioned:

Average units a student athlete enrolls in to graduate

Average length it takes a student athlete to graduate

The graduation rate (which is higher than the total enrollment of the school)

How many students are fulfilling honors

The time conflicts with classes and practice schedules with not alternative options

The new rule regarding passing 9 units for eligibility

How many receive aid

While some sided with the athletes there are some senate members that are strongly against priority registration. One did not see why priority registration was necessary if the athletes have a higher graduate percentage and many with honors. Some argue that it is favoritism towards athletes and their choice to play a sport while others are working students. It was very frustrating to see the senate shut down the proposal. The committee adjourned their meeting and will put this proposal on the list of discussion for the following school year.