Associated Students Inc. has missed two self-imposed deadlines to inform Sacramento State students of its activities and goals.

A printed booklet of ASI’s goals called the Strategic Plan was scheduled for an early October release, but will not be distributed now.

In interviews this weekend, ASI members said they have no idea when it will be completed. ASI President Angela Arriola and Executive Vice President Jesus Andrade are in charge of the project. The second annual State of the Students Address, a presidential speech started last year by 2005-06 ASI President Angel Barajas, was pushed from Sept. 21 to Oct. 24.

ASI board members didn’t express concern with the speech’s delay and said a later speech allowed for more results rather than promises.

Nothing within ASI policy dictates the details of the speech or whether it must be given at all, Arriola told editors of The State Hornet in the first of three biweekly meetings during the fall semester. A strategic plan formulated by the president is also not required under ASI policy.

“Because it was so early in the semester, we couldn’t guarantee students would be aware of it and come,” Arriola said on Sept. 29.

“We said, ‘Why don’t we just do one that’s in the middle of the semester and that way we can already give them some results?’ We’ve already started projects,” Arriola said. “We’ve already been working on things for months now. So, why don’t we make this a more of a results-oriented State of the Students: This is what we’re doing, this is what we’ve done.”

State of the Students AddressArriola planned to incorporate the strategic plan in the State of the Students Address. While she didn’t mention the strategic plan specifically during her Tuesday speech in the University Union Ballroom, she focused on the five priorities of ASI which were pointed out in a memorandum for the strategic plan.

“One of the goals that we’ve been striving for is that we would set realistic goals; that way we could actually achieve them,” Arriola said on Friday. “We didn’t want to say we could solve parking issues or anything, and not be able to deliver.”

Arriola said while administration showed up, student turnout was low.

“It isn’t only my administration who is dealing with that issue,” Arriola said. “It’s something that happens across the board with ASI. … That’s one of the main drivers behind us creating the public affairs department and the marketing department.”

Morgan Curtis, a freshman nursing major, attended the event. It was her first exposure to ASI and how the board of directors work for student issues.

“I didn’t know what (ASI) was. I learned about it today,” Curtis said.

Strategic plan beginsArriola scheduled strategic plan distribution for the week of Oct. 9. The strategic plan was intended to address the details of the five ASI priorities for the 2006-07 school year: improving academic advising, establishing student representation for the development of the recreation and wellness center and student housing, creating a public affairs department for ASI and turning Sacramento State into an environmentally friendly “green campus.”

Five priorities out of about 40 options were developed at the beginning of September during an ASI retreat, Arriola said. A complete strategic plan was expected four weeks later, Arriola said on Sept. 8.

“I want it to be something students can hold us accountable to and not just a listing of what are our strengths and weaknesses,” Arriola said. “In order to make it a better (plan), we have to wait a little more time and that’s why the day got pushed back and now it’s in October. But it won’t be out in November. I promise.”

The consultantASI signed a contract to pay Katrina Kennedy, an independent consultant and founder of Dynamics Management Consulting, $1,800 to develop the strategic plan. Printing would be handled elsewhere for an additional cost. Kennedy was paid half the money at the start of the project, Arriola said, and the other portion of the money hasn’t been paid.

“We identified the priorities and then we hired her with the expectation that she’s going to help us lay out those five priorities just like we said, that we’re going to address each five, who is in charge and this is how you do it,” Arriola said Friday. “We got a different result. Now we have to deal with it. ? So, we’ve got to go back to the drawing board and address it. It shouldn’t have taken this long.”

Arriola told The State Hornet on Sept. 29 that the strategic plan would go to production on Oct. 5 and ASI would receive it on Oct. 9. The consultant was supposed to deliver a spiral bound, 8.5″ x 11,” book totaling about 50 pages, Arriola said.

“The strategic plan, the way that we’re doing it, with a consultant, with a book that’s going to be distributed university-wide – that has not been done,” Arriola said on Sept. 29. “Again, like during the campaign, we stressed accountability. That’s what it all comes back to, how do we enforce it? You need something that’s laid out, something that’s in policy in order to be more effective.”

Tangible plan diesNow, there is no plan to deliver a printed strategic plan by ASI.

“I don’t think that it would be cost-effective to print a strategic plan for distribution this late in the semester,” Arriola said on Friday. “However, the strategic plan itself is still being followed.”

ASI changed the strategic plan in the middle of October. Arriola said the strategic plan will now constitute three areas: public affairs led by Arriola, ASI identity led by Executive Director Patricia Worley and “fish bowl” led by ASI Director of Engineering and Computer Science John Reynolds. Arriola described the latter as focus on the short-term with an effort to bring perspective to ASI projects.

Arriola said what she received at the deadline was a rough draft detailing “some” of the things that were expected. Arriola said she and Andrade will meet with Kennedy this week.

“That’s where we are in discussion,” Arriola said. “What was arranged for and what was agreed upon didn’t happen at that time. So, we’re going to be meeting and talking about, like, did I not fulfill my end? Kind of go back and address why was this not done Oct. 5 when we thought it was going to be done.”

Arriola wasn’t ready to say whether Kennedy failed to live up the contract on Friday.

“I don’t want to yet say the contract wasn’t fulfilled and we didn’t get what we expected at this point,” Arriola said. “I’m still in that benefit of the doubt phase. Maybe there was something that I misunderstood.”

Kennedy is not working on anything more for the strategic plan at this point, Arriola said. A message left with Kennedy on Monday was not returned before press time.

“I want to discuss with her my understanding of what we were going to get and where the disconnect happened,” Arriola said.

Director of Education Adge Simon deferred comment on the strategic plan to Arriola. Vice President of Academic Affairs Lynsie Hebert chose not to comment. Reynolds said he was pleased with the direction of the strategic plan.

“We haven’t really talked about (physical distribution) because we’re in the planning stages,” Vice President of Finance Tiffany Huang said. “We have info but we don’t have enough to have a little distributed pamphlet thing. There hasn’t been much discussion about that or what to put in it.”

“The actual formal write-up is a work in progress,” Vice President of University Affairs Chris Ramos said. “We’re trying to get to that point, but we have a vision.”