The Associated Student Council held its first meeting for the spring semester, and the council has hit the ground running. Leslie Rice, instructor of the Avanzamos peer tutors pilot program, convinced the council to tap into a one-time discretionary fund to cover both the airfare and hotel expenses to send tutors of the Avanzamos program to the Innovations conference, sung to a tune of $900.

Rice sought $3,000 to send her three tutors to the annual Innovations conference, by the San Diego Community College District in San Diego.
Jerimiah Horn, AS director of finance noted that all that remains of the Club Activities budget for the entire semester was a stark $333.

Despite being a tutoring program that aids students who learn English as second language students, Avanzamos does not receive funding through the Metas Program. The reason, Rice said, is that the program’s tutors are students and not faculty, and it is students she plans to send to San Diego.

Last semester, the Avanzamos tutors aided 150 students with everything from basic reading skills tutoring (READ 350, 301, ENGL 335), to ESL students, to help as simple as general advice regarding how to apply for loans, how to transfer, and anything in between.

Rice said she plans to train 10 more tutors to accompany the already skillful three in the program.

The next big issue to pass the table is planning one of the biggest fundraisers of the semester, which is linked to the largest community college fundraiser across California. SJCC wants to put on a Rock n’ Roll Chili and Rib cookoff to raise money, a projected goal of $10,000 for Hands Across California. Hands Across America is a $100 million fundraiser to support 112 community colleges across California.

The cookoff is in the planning stages, aimed for April 9. Admission is $5 for all comers, with capped prices for all food venders to make attending more affordable.