Are you looking for ways to get involved on campus? The Associated Students of UW Bothell Senate (ASUWB Senate) is a group of about 18 students as of 2026 whose goal is to provide input on various campus issues at UWB. All of them follow the ASUWB bylaws, a governing document that every officer of ASUWB follows according to their website: https://www.uwb.edu/student-affairs/about/committees/saf/bylaws. They are able to add more amendments to this document if the Board of Directors wants to make any changes. Senators can make amendments to the bylaws as well. There are many Senator seats representing different departments including the Academic Departments, Residential Life and Commuter students. One of ASUWB’s biggest accomplishments was the introduction of the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) in 2013 after it was approved by the UW Board of Regents. Since its construction, students have been able to participate in recreational activities, workouts, and much more.
This quarter, first-year ASUWB Summit Hall Senator Caleb Rotchstein hopes to reach out to first-year students, especially those that live in his building. Rotchstein says that “first-year students don’t fully know ASUWB as an organization and what their responsibilities are.” He also hopes to educate first-years on ASUWB and get more students to learn more about campus news and local issues.
Since joining the ASUWB Senate, Rotchstein was able to learn about different committees, such as the Student Technology Fee Committee (STF) and the Services & Activities Fee Committee (SAF), which allocates essential funds for programming, salaries and equipment. Students can gain knowledge in lesser-known committees, including the Student Academic Enhancement Fund (SAEF), a committee dedicated to supporting “student’s professional development” through scholarships that go up to around $1500 that students can apply for. The ASUWB Senate has their own committees as well. These include the Finance Committee that manages the ASUWB budget, the Civic Actions Committee (CAC) that executes ASUWB policy, the Steering Committee that reviews the ASUWB bylaws, and the Elections Comittee, that supervises the ASUWB’s annual electoral process.
Furthermore, ASUWB hosts many events throughout the year, including Town Halls, where students have the opportunity to stop by and discuss issues affecting the UWB campus, with one happening this quarter with time and date to be determined. They also host creative events, such as the recent ‘Painting Pals’, an event where students relieve distress by painting and chatting with their peers. ASUWB also holds public biweekly Senate meetings on Fridays from 10 AM to 12 PM in UW1-280. These are open meetings where the Senate votes on legislation, and more. Students can reach out to ASUWB if they would like to talk at one of their meetings here: https://www.uwb.edu/asuwb/get-involved
The ASUWB Senate’s goal is to “rebuild what student government means at UW Bothell.” With a near-full Senate team, they hope to shape what advocacy means and for the future of UWB, according to Senator Rotchstein. As of right now, the ASUWB Senate is working on gathering student feedback, as they seek to learn about student concerns regarding topics like tuition. Recently, they have released a health and wellness fee survey which can be found on ASUWB’s Instagram page in their bio: https://linktr.ee/asuwbothell.
Leave a Reply