- In Archive
- 2014-10-02 20:14:23
- 588 Views
The AUBG Student Body Assembly (SBA) did not have a quorum this year, hence, it did not have decision-making powers. The event occurred on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 7:30 p.m. in the ABF theater.
Around 20 minutes after the official beginning of the event, the Chair of the Senate, Bojan Mladenovski, announced that there were 133 students present (out of 182 needed for the Assembly to happen; this is 20 per cent of the student body - 910 students); therefore, the assembly had no decision-making powers and the Student Government (SG) continued with an information session. "I have mixed feelings, honestly," President of SG Mario Grachenov said. "The first one is that I am sorry we didn’t have a quorum. Honestly, for us, the SG, it’s much easier if we have a quorum, so, you guys, the student body, who we have to represent can share your opinion, your ideas, express your opinion on certain issues, like SG goals, SG budgets, and, of course, if you have any notes, we should take them...They [the students] didn’t show up, maybe the clubs and all the people were happy with the job that we did at last Wednesday’s meeting." 
The SBA was initially scheduled to happen on Monday. This was officially announced on Wednesday, Sept. 24, during the weekly SG meeting, at which, according to SG Treasurer Aghakarim Orujov, around 20 students were present. Over the weekend a Facebook event was created. Several students used the platform to express their concerns that there was not an all-student email sent to students, and that there were three other events, one of which - an exam, going on during the scheduled time for the SBA. "I think that this gets to the problem that we don’t have a very good all university calendar, so that everybody could see what everybody else is doing," SG Faculty Adviser Prof. Robert Phillips said. "When you have a hundred students, who are taking an exam, that’s over 10 per cent of the student body. It’s one thing if people are going to clubs, it’s another thing if they are required to be in a class."
Chair Mladenovski sent an all-student email at 12:09 a.m. on Sept. 29, officially inviting students to attend the SBA on Monday, Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. Around 10 hours later, at 12:51 p.m., President Grachenov sent another all-student email announcing that the SBA would be moved to the time that it actually happened. "We used a direct communication channel, " Orujov said. "If 910 students are interested, they would have come, and they would see it. As you see, we postponed the date, but still there was no quorum......We did all the best we could. We created an event. We announced more than 24 hours in advance by allstud email. Still, there was no quorum."
Another way for students to learn about the open SG meetings, besides attending them, is reading the minutes, which are sent 24 hours before the next SG meeting in accordance with the constitution. Since students could not read the minutes before the SBA, due to that law in the constitution, AUBG Daily asked the SG representatives whether they plan to change that.
"We are going to improve the ways of communication," Mladenovski said. "I give my word as a Chair that the meetings and the minutes are going to be announced earlier from now on...We are not perfect, we are human, we make mistakes; however, we are going to try to give our best for the AUBG community."
Prof. Phillips said that there are communication problems, which the students need to raise in front of the SG. Students need to ask for timely information. "This [better communication] is one of their goals, and I think that the press should hold them responsible to these goals," Prof. Phillips added.
AUBG Daily also asked the SG representatives why students were not allowed to ask questions at the end of the information session. "The problem with this is that a huge body as the ASA, in order for us to hear all the concerns, it needs to have a decision-making power," Mladenovski said. "It’s a stronger incentive. However, since the assembly did not have quorum, it would have been more difficult for us to track your concerns and address them in a better way. That’s why I focus your attention to the SG meetings where we will be able to focus on all of your individual concerns."
With the lack of quorum, the aforementioned information session was the only activity left for the SBA. The session started with Senator Peter Agov, a fourth-year student, who announced the SG goals for 2014-2015, which are as following:
AUBG Daily asked students about their opinion on the SBA and SG. Fourth-year student, Stoil Stoilov, did not go to the Assembly. "I have gone previous years, and, overall, I am disappointed by the way the process is done and the fact that they mostly waste people's time with unnecessary discussions. I did not want to be a part of this circus this year...Overall there was just terrible organization, what can I say? It was supposed to be Monday, and, according to Mario [Grachenov], it was decided like three weeks ago, but they only announced it the day before the ASA, so no comment...I think they should think of a way to announce SG meeting decisions to the whole student body in a more efficient way, so that when I don't have time to go to the SG meeting, I can actually know what happened there...I think the President, the Treasurer, and the Vice-President are doing a good job, but I think the senatorial body could do a better job." Regarding communication, Stoilov said, "I have no idea how they [SG] are communicating with the administration, I am not part of the administration, so I wouldn't know. Communication with students is insufficient, it's untimely. They don't send all-student emails in a timely manner...."
Kristo Prifti, fourth-year student and SG Webmaster, gave his opinion, "First of all, I am part of the SG itself... I am also part of Olympics. We needed people there to vote about our budget and stuff. These were the two main reasons that I went there, and I go every year, because I am interested in the clubs and the other students....The organization was fine. Every year they are trying to promote it as much as they can. Even though every year they find it hard to find the amount of people that they need."
Zlatina Aleksandrova, third-year student, was present at the SBA. "I cannot say that they had any promotion as the all-student email was sent on Sunday, at 1 a.m...Not all of the freshmen know about those SG meetings and the importance of going to them...The students did not make the effort of checking when exactly it [SBA] is going to be, and the SG did not make a bigger effort into promoting the event to the student body....I have high expectations of SG this year. I hope that they will actually do whatever they said they are going to do this year. Their goals sounded a bit more realistic, but it's all a matter of whether they actually do it."
Georgi Palahanov, first-year student, who did not attend the SBA, said, "I couldn't find time. I know what it is. I care about it. I don't think that it's a good thing that I missed it."
Yanko Radenkov, second-year student, said, "The organization kind of sucked, because they announced that it's going to be on Monday, and all of the clubs were prepared to go on Monday. In the very last moment they just announced that it was on Tuesday, when all of the clubs had planned to have activities on Tuesday, and there were some other things going on. Not all of the people were prepared for the SBA...So far I have not really seen that much involvement from SG. The most important thing was this meeting, because we were going to talk about the budget, so it was kind of sad that not many people showed up, because that is maybe the most important meeting for the first semester."
Today, SG sent an all-student email inviting club representatives to a meeting, hosted by SG, Developments Office, and AUBG's President Kevin Aspegren, on Monday, Oct. 6 at 7:30p.m. in the ABF Student Center, room 6306. The meeting will be devoted to a discussion on how potential sponsors can be attracted for on-campus events.
AUBG Daily's reporters will continue to inform you on developments in SG policies and initiatives.
The SBA was initially scheduled to happen on Monday. This was officially announced on Wednesday, Sept. 24, during the weekly SG meeting, at which, according to SG Treasurer Aghakarim Orujov, around 20 students were present. Over the weekend a Facebook event was created. Several students used the platform to express their concerns that there was not an all-student email sent to students, and that there were three other events, one of which - an exam, going on during the scheduled time for the SBA. "I think that this gets to the problem that we don’t have a very good all university calendar, so that everybody could see what everybody else is doing," SG Faculty Adviser Prof. Robert Phillips said. "When you have a hundred students, who are taking an exam, that’s over 10 per cent of the student body. It’s one thing if people are going to clubs, it’s another thing if they are required to be in a class."
Chair Mladenovski sent an all-student email at 12:09 a.m. on Sept. 29, officially inviting students to attend the SBA on Monday, Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. Around 10 hours later, at 12:51 p.m., President Grachenov sent another all-student email announcing that the SBA would be moved to the time that it actually happened. "We used a direct communication channel, " Orujov said. "If 910 students are interested, they would have come, and they would see it. As you see, we postponed the date, but still there was no quorum......We did all the best we could. We created an event. We announced more than 24 hours in advance by allstud email. Still, there was no quorum."
Another way for students to learn about the open SG meetings, besides attending them, is reading the minutes, which are sent 24 hours before the next SG meeting in accordance with the constitution. Since students could not read the minutes before the SBA, due to that law in the constitution, AUBG Daily asked the SG representatives whether they plan to change that.
"We are going to improve the ways of communication," Mladenovski said. "I give my word as a Chair that the meetings and the minutes are going to be announced earlier from now on...We are not perfect, we are human, we make mistakes; however, we are going to try to give our best for the AUBG community."
Prof. Phillips said that there are communication problems, which the students need to raise in front of the SG. Students need to ask for timely information. "This [better communication] is one of their goals, and I think that the press should hold them responsible to these goals," Prof. Phillips added.
AUBG Daily also asked the SG representatives why students were not allowed to ask questions at the end of the information session. "The problem with this is that a huge body as the ASA, in order for us to hear all the concerns, it needs to have a decision-making power," Mladenovski said. "It’s a stronger incentive. However, since the assembly did not have quorum, it would have been more difficult for us to track your concerns and address them in a better way. That’s why I focus your attention to the SG meetings where we will be able to focus on all of your individual concerns."
With the lack of quorum, the aforementioned information session was the only activity left for the SBA. The session started with Senator Peter Agov, a fourth-year student, who announced the SG goals for 2014-2015, which are as following:
- Revision and change of the SG Constitution.
- Improvement of the connections with other American universities in the region.
- Bring more internship opportunities to AUBG Students.
- Improve the Dining Services.
- Improve the Internet connection.
- Increase the transparency and communications between the faculty and the students.
- Assist Admissions Office in the recruitment of new students.
- Improvement and continuous update of the SG website.
- Make good connections with the Residence Life and cooperate with them closely.
- Reduce bureaucracy and paperwork for the clubs and the students.
As increased communication with administration was not mentioned in the stated goals, AUBG Daily asked the representatives about their plans in that direction. "We meet with them regularly, with all executives; we have committees; our communication is pretty well," Orujov said. Mladenovski said that they will look at problems from last year and work in that direction. "We are definitely going to increase our communication with the administration," he said.
The session continued with a presentation of the SG officers and committee members:
- Mario Grachenov- President of SG
- Borislava Kaneva- Vice-President of SG
- Aghakarim Orujov - Treasurer of SG
- Bojan Mladenovski - Chair of the Student Senate
- Diana Teloian - Chair of Student Representative Selection Committee; Vice-Chair of the Student Senate
- Steven London - Member of the Student Representative Selection Committee
- Lyuben Popov - Member of the Student Representative Selection Committee
- Nare Avetisyan- Member of the Student Representative Selection Committee
- Tzvetomir Zdravkov - Member of the Student Representative Selection Committee
- Petar Agov - Member of the Student Representative Selection Committee
- Asya Minkova - Member of the Budgetary and Allocation Committee
- Augert Dollomaja - Member of the Budgetary and Allocation Committee
- Tofig Kerimov - Member of the Budgetary and Allocation Committee
- Lora Dineva - Member of the Budgetary and Allocation Committee
- Hristo Popov - Member of the Budgetary and Allocation Committee
- Kristo Prifti - Website Master
- Mariela Naydenova - Secretary
- Ivan Dzhambov - Poster Designer
AUBG Daily asked students about their opinion on the SBA and SG. Fourth-year student, Stoil Stoilov, did not go to the Assembly. "I have gone previous years, and, overall, I am disappointed by the way the process is done and the fact that they mostly waste people's time with unnecessary discussions. I did not want to be a part of this circus this year...Overall there was just terrible organization, what can I say? It was supposed to be Monday, and, according to Mario [Grachenov], it was decided like three weeks ago, but they only announced it the day before the ASA, so no comment...I think they should think of a way to announce SG meeting decisions to the whole student body in a more efficient way, so that when I don't have time to go to the SG meeting, I can actually know what happened there...I think the President, the Treasurer, and the Vice-President are doing a good job, but I think the senatorial body could do a better job." Regarding communication, Stoilov said, "I have no idea how they [SG] are communicating with the administration, I am not part of the administration, so I wouldn't know. Communication with students is insufficient, it's untimely. They don't send all-student emails in a timely manner...."
Kristo Prifti, fourth-year student and SG Webmaster, gave his opinion, "First of all, I am part of the SG itself... I am also part of Olympics. We needed people there to vote about our budget and stuff. These were the two main reasons that I went there, and I go every year, because I am interested in the clubs and the other students....The organization was fine. Every year they are trying to promote it as much as they can. Even though every year they find it hard to find the amount of people that they need."
Zlatina Aleksandrova, third-year student, was present at the SBA. "I cannot say that they had any promotion as the all-student email was sent on Sunday, at 1 a.m...Not all of the freshmen know about those SG meetings and the importance of going to them...The students did not make the effort of checking when exactly it [SBA] is going to be, and the SG did not make a bigger effort into promoting the event to the student body....I have high expectations of SG this year. I hope that they will actually do whatever they said they are going to do this year. Their goals sounded a bit more realistic, but it's all a matter of whether they actually do it."
Georgi Palahanov, first-year student, who did not attend the SBA, said, "I couldn't find time. I know what it is. I care about it. I don't think that it's a good thing that I missed it."
Yanko Radenkov, second-year student, said, "The organization kind of sucked, because they announced that it's going to be on Monday, and all of the clubs were prepared to go on Monday. In the very last moment they just announced that it was on Tuesday, when all of the clubs had planned to have activities on Tuesday, and there were some other things going on. Not all of the people were prepared for the SBA...So far I have not really seen that much involvement from SG. The most important thing was this meeting, because we were going to talk about the budget, so it was kind of sad that not many people showed up, because that is maybe the most important meeting for the first semester."
Today, SG sent an all-student email inviting club representatives to a meeting, hosted by SG, Developments Office, and AUBG's President Kevin Aspegren, on Monday, Oct. 6 at 7:30p.m. in the ABF Student Center, room 6306. The meeting will be devoted to a discussion on how potential sponsors can be attracted for on-campus events.
AUBG Daily's reporters will continue to inform you on developments in SG policies and initiatives.