I am writing to address the constitutional concerns over our ASCSU Chief of Staff Robert Duran. This issue of credit enrollment requirements was addressed in Bill No. 3927, written on April 21, 2010 by Andy Shank, titled “Credit Enrollment Requirements for ASCSU Job Positions.” This bill mostly addresses the job requirements for several ASCSU positions including Senator, Associate Senator, Speaker Pro Tempore, Parliamentarian, Clerk, Supreme Court Justice and Associate Justice, clearly stating that all of them require a minimum enrollment of six credits.
However, the bill clearly states that “students at this university who are enrolled in fewer than six credits are still officially students of Colorado State University” and that “nowhere within the ASCSU Constitution or other official documents is a justification given for the exclusion from ASCSU participation of students enrolled in fewer than six credits.” According to this statement in the bill, ASCSU does not have the right to dismiss Chief of Staff Robert Duran for only being enrolled in one credit hour because “denying the participation of students enrolled in fewer than six credits by specifying a minimum six-credit enrollment within the ASCSU job descriptions in unfair, unnecessary and without justification.”
Furthermore, the Chief of Staff job description was specified in September of 2011, in Bill No. 4015. This bill states that for this cabinet position, the applicant shall be an ASCSU member at the time of appointment and maintain a GPA of at least 2.0. Nowhere does it specify that this member must maintain a minimum credit level in order to keep their position, and nowhere does it state that they must remain a full time student either.
Chief of Staff Robert Duran is a valuable member of the executive cabinet and removing him would not only be an extremely poor strategic decision because of his irreplaceable experience within ASCSU, it would also be illegitimate according to Bill No. 3927 by excluding a student with less than a minimum credit hours even though he fulfilled that requirement when he was appointed. The ASCSU Supreme Court would appreciate if they would be contacted if any issues of the ASCSU Constitution surface in the future.
Sincerely,
Keith Patton
ASCSU Supreme Court Liaison
