Editor’s Note: The undergraduate population of the University of New Mexico is represented by the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico — an organization with several moving parts. The purpose of this article is to familiarize students with ASUNM.
There is a small, unassuming office on the bottom floor of the Student Union Building. A clear sign with crimson letters, reading “Associated Students of the University of New Mexico,” hangs above a heavy wooden door.
Inside this clean little office resides a few free blue books, plaques of presidents and senators past, and about $1,000,000 of student fees — your money — bound-up in documents and records.
Undergraduate students scurry about the office. These temporary inhabitants discuss the accuracy of numbers on a page, the locations of advertisements and the goings-on of their lives as college students. Much of what ASUNM is exists in these people.
But this current crop of students — some of which are elected while others are hired — is guided by a structure written out in about 60 pages in three documents.
The ASUNM constitution, the ASUNM lawbook and parliamentary procedure are designed to guide the decisions and check the ambitions of those who abide by them.
ASUNM is modeled after the American federal government. There are three branches, each ideally possessing the ability to check the power of the others.
ASUNM is bigger than these three branches, however. There are eight student service agencies within ASUNM; Joint Council, the Student Activities Center and Student Government Accountant Office are just a few bodies that are a part of, or interact with, the student government. Each of these service agencies have bureaucratic structures of their own.
When compared to the Board of Regents, the University’s supreme governing body, ASUNM has significantly different power. The million or so in student fees ASUNM receives to dole out to student groups is a small fraction of the total student fee pot.
And the overwhelming majority of Senators are a part of a fraternity or a sorority, despite only five percent of UNM students being a part of Greek Life.
ASUNM is the sole voice for the undergraduate population at UNM.
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Any student can write legislation. However, for a piece of legislation to come before Full Senate, it must go through one of three committees.
The Finance Committee is responsible for reviewing and recommending changes to legislation allocating money.
The Steering and Rules Committee handles legislation dealing with almost everything else, including changes to the ASUNM Constitution or Lawbook, condolences or commendations.
The Outreach and Appointments Committee is responsible for interviewing and recommending candidates for non-elected positions such as Director of Communication, Attorney General and Student Court Justices.
Each committee is composed of five to seven Senators. One Senator is appointed as chair or head of the committee.
The Vice President, currently Emily Wilks, appoints Senators to committees and decides who chairs them at their discretion. Full Senate then confirms the appointments.
The President Pro Tempore is the Vice President’s second in command. The current President Pro Tempore, Sen. Satchel Ben, described his role as “the glue holding (the) Senate together.”
One of the most common ways a student will encounter the legislative process is in requesting an appropriation for their student organization.
An appropriation is a piece of legislation used for “unforeseen one-time expenditures, one-time capital outlays, or travel.” This is different from a group’s budget.
Once a student organization is formed, there will be an assigned Senator to help with the ASUNM processes. When money is needed, such as to help pay for a tournament or event, the group submits for appropriations, which must be passed by the Finance Committee and then goes to the Full Senate.
The Office of President of ASUNM is the most visible part of the organization The president’s role is two-pronged: to advise others governing bodies of UNM and to direct the eight Student Service Agencies.
The President offers advice to the Board of Regents and participates in the yearly Student Fee Review Board process.
The President serves a one-year term and can serve no more than two terms. To run for president, an undergraduate must have completed 30 credit hours and have a minimum GPA of 3.0.
The current president, Becka Myers, described her role as the executive of the eight Student Service Agencies as “Director of the Directors.”
The president’s cabinet is made up of the Vice President, the Attorney General, the Chief of Staff, the President Pro tempore, the directors of all Student Service Agencies and the Director of Communications.
“A lot of people don’t know that ASUNM has a student court,” said Chief Justice Ian Carrillio — something Carrillo said he was eager to change.
Student Court is made up of four associate judges and one chief justice. It has original jurisdiction over cases involving the ASUNM constitution, lawbook, money allocations, and “the regulations and actions of the various bodies and committees of the ASUNM Government.”
Student Court is not self-starting. Someone has to bring a complaint to the student court in order for a case to be opened.
Every spring, Student Court also runs a mock trial.
Last spring’s mock trial was about whether or not the court had the authority to retry a case if the chief justice was suspected of taking a bribe.
The court found it did not have that ability since the student conduct committee is responsible for appellate decisions. They also recommended that legislation is passed that forbid a Senator from bribing a judge since no such legislation existed.
Justin Garcia is a freelance news reporter at the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers ASUNM. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @just516garc.
