Changes to Union board wanted

Associated Students Inc. passed legislation at Wednesday’s board meeting in support of changing the Union board to make the University Union more student-centered.

Geoff Sakala authored the legislation recommending the Union board adjustments, including changing the chair of the board from an administrator to a student and giving the students the majority vote.

“The University Union needs to be run by the students because it is funded by the students,” Sakala said.

Students pay a mandated fee of $71 a semester to the Union. In 1990, students passed a Union expansion referendum that allowed for these fees to be taken out of their tuition.

Shaun Lamachi, California State Student Association representative, said that the recommendations in the legislation are important to the future of CSUS.

“Students here are fast-paced, they need change to happen quickly, Lamachi said. “The only way this will happen is with the student majority voice on the Union board.

The Union board is a policy-making board which makes decisions on how to run the operations of the Union. The board is made up of nine people, four of them students. The remaining positions are faculty, alumni, and administrators.

The next step is for ASI to take the recommendations to the Union board and advocate for its approval.

However, Sakala is unsure how much effect the recommendations will have on the Union board.

“I think that the Union board will be resistant to the change,” Sakala said. “The best way to describe it is uneasy.”

Shirley Uplinger, vice president for student affairs and chair of the Union board, said that the recommendations have been placed on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting. She hopes the board will have an open mind in discussing the proposed changes.

“I’m going to withhold judgment until after we have an opportunity to discuss what they are recommending,” Uplinger said. “Any statement I make now would be premature.”

Uplinger said that the Union board would have to follow bylaws if any changes in the structure of the board of directors were to happen.