With brand new faces lining up Associated Student Inc.’s board of directors, a new season is has started.

ASI President Angela Arriola revealed that a new season is this year’s precise theme for Sacramento State’s student body government at a meeting with editors of The State Hornet on Friday.

Arriola said establishing a them is a way for ASI to gain more recognition on campus and to show what ASI does for students. “I thought it’d be a good idea to brand ourselves as to what we are and what our purpose is,” Arriola said.

She said the change is a benefit because the new members bring fresh perspectives to the board.

Throughout the summer, each board member has met with the deans of the colleges they have been elected to, Arriola said. She said there has been a shift in attitude and priorities.

We’re here for the students, she added.

Strategic Plan

For the past few months, the ASI board of directors have been outlining their goals for their 2006-07 term.

Arriola said ASI will be focusing on five goals this year: academic advising, the Spanos Sports and Recreation Complex project, student and faculty housing, an in-house Public Affairs Department and a green campus campaign.

Academic Advising

Arriola said academic advising is a big priority for ASI and that the board will work with faculty, as well as administration in order to provide more advisers, both major and general education advisers, and improve the university’s current academic advising system.

It has to be a campus-wide effort, she said.

Rec. Center

Peter Masters was nominated to be ASI’s representative on the committee that is steering the Spanos Sports and Recreation Complex project. Masters is waiting to be approved to be the representative by the rest of the board, which is scheduled to occur at ASI’s first board meeting next Wednesday.

Housing

ASI is taking steps to represent students in the project of developing new residence halls on campus. Arriola said ASI had discussions with Cynthia Cockrill, director of Housing and Residential Life, and Ed Jones, associate vice president of Campus Life, about the project. ASI proposed that ensuring security should be a top priority of the project.

Public Affairs Dept.

In order to ensure accountability, ASI has been working on developing an in-house Public Affairs Department. Arriola said this is being established for two reasons: to educate the campus community about who ASI is and what ASI does and to increase the student participation of ASI events and increase the use of ASI facilities and services.

Green Campus

ASI has joined a CSUwide campaign that promotes sustainability.

ASI’s strategic plan is still in the works. The final product will include more details, including which board member is overseeing which project. ASI plans to distribute the strategic plan to students on campus early October

Nika Megino can be reached at [email protected]