Once again, the Associated Students of Diablo Valley College (ASDVC) may find itself starting a semester without an adviser.

To stave off this possibility, the student government reallocated an estimated $30,000 of student’s reserve funds at the Nov. 20 general board meeting in order to partially fund a proposed interim classified management position.

According to outgoing ASDVC adviser, Yvonne Canada, 50 percent of the time for the proposed position would be used to fill the duties of the ASDVC adviser, support the student life department and work with the Inter-Club Council.

The money for the ASDVC adviser position was previously approved but it at that time, it was under a different classification.

Vice President of Student Services Newin Orante and Dean of Student Services Emily Stone approached the ASDVC at the Nov. 20 meeting to “request that… [ASDVC] use the funds differently than… [ASDVC] originally approved them for the spring of 2013,” said Canada.

Concerns were raised about approving the re-allocation. Not every voting board member was provided a draft copy of the proposed position, which included an explanation of how the student reserve money would be used.

ASDVC President and Inquirer staff member Eric Lee said, “The general ASDVC board haven’t gotten a chance to look at the draft yet. However, the Budget Oversight Committee members have reviewed the documents twice.”

The recommendation of the Budget Oversight Committee was to support the re-allocation of the reserve funds.

Before a formal vote was called, a student and member of the public, Elijah Ziskin, questioned how many of the ASDVC board members were actually familiar with the re-allocation process because, “This decision [was] obviously a big one.”

ASDVC Diversity Affairs Officer Rex Yang Hongjik recommended waiting to make a decision until every board member had a chance to review the draft proposal.

However, ASDVC Vice President of Legislative Affairs Ryan Souza recalled the thorough discussion surrounding the original approval and encouraged the vote to take place.
The re-allocation of the student reserve funds was overwhelmingly approved.
According to Stone, there is discussion taking place on how to fund the permanent proposed position.

After the meeting closed, ASDVC board members Sheren Hotama and David Choi revealed they had not viewed the draft of the proposed position. When Choi was asked if he voted in favor of the re-allocation he stated, “Yep.”
The author is a former board member of the ASDVC.