House Bill 1080, which proposes to rename Adams State College to University, was referred to the Colorado House of Representatives by its Education Committee. The measure was approved by the House of Represenatives with a vote of 10-1, and will go to the Colorado Senate for a vote.  If approved by the full Colorado legislature and Governor, the change would be official Aug. 7, 2012, and effective with the fall 2012 semester (2012-13 academic year).  Two AS&F Executive Board members testified before the committee on the merits of the bill on Wednesday March 14, 2012.

AS&F Program Assistant and graduate student, Jeni Carter, testified on behalf of Adams State College Graduate students.  She emphasized that the name change would set Adams State College apart from the community colleges across the country who share similar names, as ASC is NOT a community college.  She stated that graduate students work just as hard as any other graduate students, yet simple language in the word college may make job searching more challenging than for those graduate students at schools named university.  Furthermore, that Adams State has earned the name university with its numerous Bachelors degrees and 8 Masters degrees.

AS&F President and undergraduate student, Matt Martinez, testified on behalf of the undergraduate students and how the name change to university would effect himself and his peers.  He additionally emphasized the meaning towards military veterans and in Adams State continuing the recruitment of this population.

Welcome back ASC!  We are excited to kick off another semester here at AS&F and have some important reminders…

First and foremost, here are the dates for the semester quarterlies.  Please note that these dates are NOT flexible and that any late bills or submissions will not be considered.  Funding forms and bills can be found under the FORMS section of this page.  Executive team office hours are also posted on each of their pages.  Please feel free to stop by the office, email, or call us if you have any questions, or we can be of help!

Quarterly February 13th
Bills are due by 5:00pm Wednesday January 25th
Final bills with any corrections are due by 5:00pm Wednesday February 8th

Quarterly April 23rd
Bills are due by 5:00pm Wednesday April 4th
Final bills with any corrections are due by 5:00pm Wednesday April 18th

In addition, here are the meeting dates for this semester…

Spring 2012 Meeting Times and Quarterlies

All Meetings in Bus 142 unless otherwise noted.

Lastly, if you are graduating this semester and interested in being the class speaker…

All application materials are due to Program Assistant Carter by February 27, 2012 at 5pm.  More information can be found at  Graduation Speaker Application.

It’s time for just the last leg of the semester; good luck on finals! Only 10 days till Winter Break time!

Now for some friendly reminders and a letter from AS&F President Martinez….

The AS&F Office will be closed for Winter Break December 19, 2011, and will resume normal office hours January 17, 2012.

Last, but not least, here is the meeting and quarterly schedule for Spring 2011:

All Meetings in Bus 142 unless otherwise noted.

Lastly, President Martinez sent out a letter to AS&F today, and would like to share with every one….

Hello all,
I hope all is going well in the final weeks of the semester.  It has recently come to my attention that there are complaints on how the executive board has been running meetings and that this is causing a rift between the senate body and the executive team.  First let me say that this year has been going off very well and all of the issues that have come up have been dealt with swiftly and professionally to my knowledge, and this year has been very successful so far.
However, recently there has been some issues with how the senate members having concerns on how we are running the meetings.  Let me start by saying that every member of the executive team is extremely dedicated and willing to help out the entire body as best they can.  They are doing their jobs to the up most of their abilities and have been absolutely amazing in my opinion.  Every job on the executive board entails certain things to make sure that senate runs effectively and efficiently.  We are all a team and we are here for you!  I realize that sometimes we come off a bit harsh, but we are simply following the AS&F constitution and bylaws as well as Robert’s Rules of Order, and trying to keep order in the meetings and making sure that everything we do is done properly.  It has never been the intent of AS&F to demean or insult anyone.  We are making sure that everything we do is professionally and proficiently done, but realize we are human, and we make mistakes.  We are working on correcting these to be a better executive board for you and to continue to be successful.  Realize though that this is a two way street.  In the past few meetings there have been comments and issues that have been brought up that have not always been the most tactful.  I would please ask you to remember to hold yourselves in a professional stature, you represent the school and the actions that you believe are miniscule, to someone else may be very big to someone else.  You all represent your respective clubs and departments if you are senators, and you should hold yourself to a high standard.
Lastly, I would like to point out that I learned in the Marines that the quickest way to loose your body, is from within.  Back door bickering gets you know where, and is harmful to the unit as a whole.  If you do have issues with ANYTHING please come in to see us, e-mail or call us.  We are more than willing to help you out with your problems and work to fix ours.  We are students just like you, and are willing to listen.  Please show respect and understanding to us and we will show the same to you.  Remember that we are all working for you to help you out, and we are willing to do anything and everything to do that.  If you have any questions or comments or want to meet with my please e-mail me at Martinezms@grizzlies.adams.edu.  Thank you, Matthew Martinez

Please know and remember that if you have any questions, comments, or concerns we always welcome you to the AS&F office or to share through email, phone, or comments right here!  Hope you all have a great break!          -Program Assistant Carter

Over the years it has become evident that the AS&F Government can be a tough crowd when allocating funding.  The most feedback we’ve recieved from the Government about why certain money wasn’t allocated to a club was because they simply didn’t understand the purpose.  Part of AS&F Government’s job is to ensure that funding is allocated in ways that best suit the entire Adams State community, not just one individual or club.  So what does this mean for you?  Presentation is everything when asking AS&F Government for funding! 

Here are a few tips to remember while presenting:

1. Tell us who and what your club is: it’s mission and purpose, the reason it exists for Adams State Students and community.
2. What has this group done for all of ASC?  Winning competitions, invovlment, cooperative events with other groups, fundraising, community service, etc. 
3. What is the funding really going to if your club recieves it?  If it seems like it is just a trip, if it is just a trip, AS&F is not likely to fund it.  So, beef up your presentation, make it pop!  Make your potential club experience relevent to Adams State and its community.  For example, if I was in a foreign language club and we wanted funding to go to a country that predominately speaks such language, this could be presented 2 different ways:  This way, in which your club most likely won’t recieve funding: Our German club is going to Germany for 3 weeks to become more fluent in German.  A statement such as this is often percieved like, so what? The German club are the only individuals that will benefit.  However, if the purpose of the trip is for German club students to become more fluent in German, will return to ASC with workshop offerings on the culture found in Germany, and will meet with German individuals who can spread the word about Adams State, it is more relevant to all of Adams State.  Conferences, competitions, and performances also tend to benefit all of ASC.
4. Take your time.  Anyone asking for money has the AS&F Government floor for about 10 minutes.  If you don’t use at least most of this time, AS&F might not be understanding the purpose of giving you money.
5. Be proactive.  Many of us have seen the common questions and concerns that come from funding allocation.  If you think something is going to be a concern or a question, try to answer it in your presentation.  It is a lot harder to say what you really want to say when your put on the spot.  Also, you can ask your club reps, senators, AS&F executive board to hear your presentation or parts of it and they can offer feedback before you are in front of all of AS&F Government.

 Hopefully these tips will be of help!  You can also check out our blog Presenting: From Daunting to Prepared for more tips.  Here is also a powerpoint from VP of Internal Affairs Wilson to help you get some ideas: Climbing_Club_Powerpoint. Feel free to stop by or email us if you have any other questions, comments, concerns.

The weekend of September 28, 2011 to October 2, 2011 the AS&F Executive Board and the Program Assistant attended the annual Nation Student Government Summit in Washington D.C.  This conference had hundreds of schools in attendance and nearly as many ideas, opinions, and fresh insight to our very own Associated Students & Faculty Government.  Here are some of the conference recap summaries written by the Executive Board who attended. (More pictures will be added soon!) 

Matthew Martinez, AS&F/Student Body President 2011-2012 says:

              Hello all, I just wanted to write you and fill you in on what I learned from the ASGA Conference in Washington D.C.!  First of all, ASGA stands for the American Student Government Association, and they hold various conferences throughout the year to help improve student governments across the nation.  There were a lot of student government members there that ranged from community colleges all the way up to larger universities.   In total there were about 650 members there and this was their largest conference to date!  So it was very exciting to be a part of that.

            As for the conference itself I went to some workshops that pertained to my job and that I thought would be beneficial to AS&F.  For starters, I went to the workshop entitled
“The Gift and The Curse.”  During this session we brought up different ideas on how to improve our student government, how to market better and how to get more people involved.  The ideas that I got from this were possibly having student meetings with as much of the student body as possible, working more closely with GAB and other organizations on campus to get our name out, talking to the different department heads to request more involvement as far as senators go, empowering our current body, implement AS&F interns, AS&F member of the month and outreach more toward the freshmen class.  All these are great ideas and I fully plan on investing time and effort into these and seeing how they will affect AS&F.  In addition, I also met up with the Syracuse University Student Government and got new ideas on how to increase our membership.  They were able to go from a group of ten to a group of seventy, without including clubs, in a matter of a year, and they will have their first contested elections in almost ten years!  I find that very impressive and I hope the same things that worked for them will work for us!  Hopefully soon enough we will be able to see AS&F grow like this and be able to have a full senate for the first time ever!

            Also, I attended a few other workshops entitled “Choosing Realistic Goals” and “Building a successful Executive Board.”  I took a lot out of both of these workshops including a few workshops I can host on my own and a few ideas that AS&F can promote in the future.  All in all the conference was well put together and I got a lot out of it.  I hope that I can bring these ideas back to AS&F and we can see them flourish.  If you have any questions for me on anything about ASGA or anything in general please feel free to e-mail me or come in during my office hours!

Kat Wilson, VP of Internal Affairs says…

The D.C. trip was awesome! I feel that the conference was more beneficial then we initially thought.  I attended sessions on marketing our student government and a few on how to run our trainings or retreats. As far as the marketing sessions went I learned that we need to put our logo or “brand” on everything we fund from club trips to the AEDs we have on campus. It’s a great way for our student body to see that we do more than just sit around and talk club money.  I was also given a name to this site called survey monkey that could help us better understand what our student body needs. We have to provide a service for them on campus that no one else will be willing to provide. As far as our retreats go while short sweet and to the point seems to be what everyone on the body wants it may not be the best. In the session I went to on training your student government I learned this method that we start out by doing something silly like playing rock paper scissors and then move to a serious topic and repeat as necessary. This allows us to get to know one another instead of just sitting through lectures about how to write bills and other things. I think this would benefit us by allowing the senators and club reps to get to know one another so when clubs need someone to sponsor their bill they know a person for more than just their email address. Besides the conference the sightseeing was amazing! I couldn’t have asked for a better place to host a conference!!!

Travid Blancett, Executive Secretary says…

The ASGA conference was a very enlightening experience for myself and I’m sure everyone who attended. The beneficial part of attending an ASGA is that the conference doesn’t generalize student governments. They realize that the amount of money available to a college and the number of people who participate in senate, differs from school to school. They used these facts to formulate the workshops in a way that is beneficial to every school there.

                As for my position and the workshops that I attended, I learned a substantial amount on the duties of my position and how they coincide with Roberts Rules of Order. I attended a workshop that was specifically for secretaries. In this workshop, the speaker went over the duties of a secretary in the office and in meetings. After the workshop, I got to talk to several other secretaries about how they fulfill their positions, a few of whom I was able to collaborate with and exchange ideas with, based on how they perform their job and I perform mine. I do hope to put this information to good use as I fulfill my position.  I attended a few other workshops, all of which were beneficial to myself and will help me broaden my knowledge of working in a senate executive board.

                All in all, the D.C. trip was a great experience. Not only did we get to work with other students who are in the same positions as we are, we were able to bond as an executive board.

Many of you approached myself or another executive board member with concerns about last night’s quarterly meeting. I would like discuss some of those concerns now, in hopes that they are not a factor in the next quarterly. Please know upfront that no one is pointing any fingers at anyone, these are simply generalized concerns. Also, if any of you have concerns that you have not discussed with us yet, please do not hessitate to contact me by email or during office hours.

That being said, I would like to discuss something that was pointed out to me by faculty and students last night. Many noticed that the 3 bills that did not receive funding were for cultural avenues, while those who requested funds for academic avenues received their funds. I do not in any way think this was done intentionally, but would like to cover it just in case. Please always remember in voting that here at Adams State we value culture at the same level that we value academics, the two are heavily influential on eachother. If a club is requesting money for some form of culturally enriching excursion, that is the same as a club requesting funds for an academically enriching excursion, both are doing so to better themselves as a club and to better represent Adams State.

Please also remember to be respectful of everyone at the meeting. These bills are important to every club and no one club deserves money more than another, therefore when we open the floor for discussion on a bill, please ask your questions in a respectful manner. Also, whether your bill is passed or denied please maintain a professional composure throughout the process.

My only advice for the next quarterly is you can never be too detailed in your presentations for your bill. The more information you present to the senate justifying why you deserve the funds you are asking for, the more apt they will be to consider your requests. If any club needs help with this please come into the senate office, we are more than willing to help you put together a power point and point out key aspects of your clubs involvement and goals, that would help make your case when presenting.

I hope all of you have a great week and please let me know if I can help in any other way!

–
Travis Blancett
AS&F Secretary

Wow!  What a GREAT retreat and

kick-off for AS&F Government 11-12 year! 

In case you missed out, we wanted to share some of the information that we went over and also let you know of some updated information on our page.

Below are some of the powerpoints and documents that were gone over at the retreat on August 24th.  If you have any comments, questions, or concerns please let us know!  In addition, the executive board, senator, club rep, and advisor contact info are all updated now on the site.  Lists of these contacts will also be posted on the AS&F office door;  If you are a Senator or Club Represenative and have not yet sent me your contact information, please do so as soon as possible.  Program Assistant Carter- carterjm@grizzlies.adams.edu or ascasf@grizzlies.adams.edu

BUDGET BREAKDOWN

CLUB POINTS

Robert’s Rules of Order Presentation

Senate Retreat Agenda

Summer is almost ending, and we are getting very excited to kick this year off to a great start!

This website is in the process of being updated, and this should be all ready to go within the next week or so.  However, we do have meeting, quarterly, and other important dates posted for the entire year: Fall 2011  and  Spring 2012.  Below is also a calendar; here is also a link to the Word version if you would like to PRINT the AS&F 11-12 Calendar. 

In addition to the calendar below, make note that Quarterly bill due dates are always about 3 weeks prior to the Quarterly meeting in order to ensure correct vetting takes place.  Quarterly bill due dates are as follows:  1st Quarterly bills due Wednesday September 7th; 2nd Quarterly bills due Wednesday November 2nd; 3rd Quarterly bills January 25th; 4th Quarterly bills April 4th.  For further information on how you can be more prepared for quarterlies, check out the blog From Daunting to Prepared, or feel free to stop by the office. 

In addition to the calendar, please take extra note that the first retreat is Wednesday, August 24th at 6pm in the Business Building.  All AS&F Government is expected to attend, please contact us with any conflicts or questions that arise.

The club fair will also take place on August 24th from 10-2pm in the SUB if we get enough response from clubs.  If you would like to be a part of this, please contact Program Assistant Jeni Carter at carterjm@grizzlies.adams.edu by August 18th at 5pm.

We’ll see you all soon, hope you enjoy the last couple weeks of summer!