COMMITTEES
Committees in the Senate can largely be split into two categories – Standing Committees, which are permanent committees within the Senate that allow Senators to focus on key subjects related to governance and other essential functions within this branch of ASUCI, and Ad Hoc Committees, which are temporary committees within the Senate that assist Senators in pursuing special projects over the course of the academic year. A Senator will always be a part of one (1) Standing Committee and is expected to carry out the functions detailed within that committee. A Senator can join any number of Ad Hoc Committees (or even form their own) based on their passions and interests.
The four (4) Standing Committees that are a part of all sessions of the Senate are:
- Rules & Oversight Committee
- Finance Committee
- Public Information Committee
- Advocacy Committee
Please read “Senate Standing Committee Duties” to learn more about their specific roles in Senate.
SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE DUTIES
SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
The Rules & Oversight Committee shall be concerned with the regulations and policies of ASUCI’s operation and services, being responsible for:
- Reviewing and revising the Senate Bylaws, Elections Code, and Judicial Board Procedures as members of the Joint Committee on Governance and Internal Policy as per Article XII, Section 3 of the ASUCI Constitution.
- Handling internal Senate discipline in conjunction with the President of the Senate.
- Nominating students to fill vacant Senate seats.
- Handling business related to the operations and services of ASUCI.
- Reviewing the structure and working of Resolutions and Bills referred to it by the Senate for their justifications and reasons in order to recommend reasonable changes.
- Reviewing nominees for appointed student representative positions.
- Reviewing weekly all recommendations from the Judicial Board regarding legislation and considering appropriate revisions to legislation.
- Maintaining the official file of standing policies for ASUCI Senate.
- Updating all governing documents subsequent to the passage of any amendment and ensuring that the most current version is publicly available on the ASUCI website.
- Evaluating UCI’s enrollment data at least once annually and adjusting the distribution of seats in the Senate as necessary.
The External Vice President, Internal Vice President, Student Advocate General, Senate Secretary, and Senate Parliamentarian shall be non-voting members of the Rules & Oversight Committee.
The Finance Committee shall be concerned with all financial affairs of the Senate, being responsible for:
- Handling business involving financial allocation and other budgetary matters.
- Monitoring the accounts of the ASUCI and making reports to the Senate in conjunction with the ASUCI Business Office.
- Reviewing all Bills referred to it by the Senate for their justifications and reasons in order to recommend reasonable expenditures.
- Requesting financial audits and financial documentation from the ASUCI Executive Officers.
- Meeting with the ASUCI Executive Director and/or Business Office at the beginning of every Quarter in order to learn about the budget in detail.
- Making a copy of the ASUCI budget and monthly updates available on the ASUCI website.
The President, Student Services Vice President, and Internal Student Advocate General, and Student Financial Officer shall be non-voting members of the Finance Committee.
The Public Information Committee shall be concerned with the Senate’s public relations, being responsible for:
- Creating a monthly newsletter of Senate and Senator initiatives and projects for campuswide email distribution.
- Serving as a catalyst for generating ideas and producing ASUCI Senate publicity.
- Publicizing Senate meetings and topics of discussion weekly, including coordination of Senate meeting highlights social media posts with ASUCI Media & Technology.
- Shall maintain a written and computer data file history of all Senate standing documents and legislative actions, as well as keep records of the actions of ASUCI.
- Conducting student organization outreach on behalf of the ASUCI Senate and connecting student organizations to relevant Senators for the purpose of collaboration or advocacy.
The Academic Affairs Vice President, Student Services Vice President, and Chief Accountability Officer shall be non-voting members of the Public Information Committee.
The Advocacy Committee shall be concerned with the activities and projects of all Senate ad-hoc committees and the academic year’s advocacy agenda, being responsible for:
- Thoroughly reviewing the creation of each Ad-Hoc Committee. Each Ad-Hoc Committee will present a proposal to the Advocacy Committee, which will include the following:
- The name and general purpose of the Ad-Hoc Committee.
- The names of two (2) or more fellow Senators who wish to participate in the Ad-Hoc Committee (the number of names will be determined by the scope of the ad-hoc committee’s project as approved by the Advocacy Committee).
- The names of possible non-Senate partners in the fulfillment of the Ad-Hoc Committee’s projects (faculty, departmental heads, student-interest organizations).
- Proposal for individual projects (if applicable) for the fulfillment of each ad-hoc committee’s mission statement.
- Checking the progress of each ad-hoc committee throughout the academic year, which will include the following:
- Collecting written reports from each Ad-Hoc Committee Chairperson regarding the Committee’s activities for the respective week.
- Presenting a report on the state of all the aforementioned Committees at the first Senate meeting of each Quarter.
The President, External Vice President, Internal Vice President, Academic Affairs Vice President, and External Student Advocate General shall be non-voting members of the Advocacy Committee.
- Alondra Arevalo – At-Large
- Amelia Nguyen – Humanities – Vice Chair
- Arnav Nigam – ICS
- Dylan Richcreek – Engineering
- Nicole Lang – Public Health
- Rochelle Duran – Transfer
- Sophia Hobby – Social Ecology – Chair
- Diya Shah – International
- Joshua Schuld – At-Large
- Lauren Jernigan – First Year
- Nasser Ssenyange – At-Large – Vice Chair
- Sudaay Chaloo – Business
- Temitayo Akande – Chair
- Zeid Hussain – At-Large
- Elijah Waller – Arts – Vice Chair
- Emily Sosa-Hernandez – Social Sciences
- Ethan Reynaga – Engineering
- Jacob Bustamante – Physical Sciences
- James Charles Fields – Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Kalilla Soeweno – Social Ecology
- Yasmeen El Jack – Biological Sciences – Chair
- Athena Stepanian – Social Sciences – Chair
- Chidera Okoroama – ICS
- Jared Castaneda – Social Sciences – Vice Chair
- Minh Ahn Pham – Education
- Olivia Liuson – Nursing
- Priya Khetarpal – At-Large
- Siddharth Karthikeya – Biological Sciences
2024-2025 AD HOC COMMITTEES
Purposes:
- To review the ASUCI Operational Manual;
- To edit the manual to improve clarity and consistency;
- To implement the operations of the manual consistently throughout the branches of ASUCI;
- To standardize professional expectations for all members of each branch;
- To support staff members of all branches in having a clear and detailed understanding of the procedures and requirements that are necessary to the functioning of ASUCI as a whole and within each branch; and
- To allow for efficient passage of changes to the manual if needed.
Purposes:
- To establish the main purpose and goal of the Office of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Vice President (JEDI VP);
- To generally outline its administrative structure;
- To supply and present the governing documents to a future ad hoc constitutional review committee for further review and consultation;
- To consult with the SGSM Executive Director for consultation and critique;
- To create a finalized presentation that details the purpose of the office and the suggested structure of the office;
- To present this presentation to stakeholders such as Identity Center Directors, the Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, members of ASUCI, SGSM staff, and Cross-Cultural Center affiliate organizations; and
- To present the final proposed amendments relating to the JEDI VP, within the governing documents, to the Joint Committee on Governance and Internal Policy and the SGSM Executive Director so that it may appear on the ballot given during the 2024-2025 academic year.
Purposes:
- To administer all aspects of the 2024-2025 Anteater Safety Net Grant cycle, in compliance with university policy and directives from the UCI Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships;
- Drafting application questions for the grant;
- Publicizing the grant upon release for no less than three (3) weeks;
- Reviewing applications for the grant to determine award recipients;
- Working with UCI Student Government Student Media professional staff to facilitate the grant process; and
- Reporting back to the Senate a set of formal recommendations for the future of the grant.
Purposes:
- To propose a revised ASUCI Constitution in time for the 2025 ASUCI Spring General Elections;
- To draft necessary amendments to the ASUCI Constitution for the Joint Committee on Governance & Internal Policy’s review; and.To coordinate with existing special committees to ensure their amendments are implemented in the final draft of the proposed ASUCI Constitution;