The ASWSU Senate passed a resolution to support the Office of the Provost’s open education initiatives at its meeting on Wednesday. The resolution supports the use of the OpenStax program to provide textbooks created with open-source material.

This does not force professors to use a book that does not perfectly line up with their curriculum because they can freely edit and update the source material, said Sen. Matthew Morrow, author of the resolution.

Researchers and professors collaborate to create open-source textbooks for students at other universities to use. Morrow said they are targeting UCORE courses because open-source textbooks are currently less suitable for upper-level classes.

The resolution cited an average student spending of about $960 on textbooks per year. Additionally, 65 percent of students decided not to buy textbooks due to prices, which are rising at triple the rate of inflation, according to the resolution.

Morrow handed out two examples of open source textbooks that may be used at WSU. One, titled Concepts of Biology, was made at Rice University. It is 634 pages long and costs $29.

Morrow said this is the most practical first step in making course materials more affordable for all students.

Britteny McClure gave the Senate an overview of the Cougar Choice Housing (CCH) program. McClure, coordinator of the program, said it will inspect popular off-campus housing locations for students to show rules, regulations and features.

She said she has met with city officials to tailor the inspection criteria. Properties that pass the inspection will receive a CCH stamp of approval. She also said CCH is working on creating a comparison matrix to compare housing properties.

ASWSU Vice President Kyle Strachila spoke to the Senate as chair of the Constitution and Bylaw Revision Committee. He said the committee reached a decision to allow students to vote on a constitutional revision to change the word “members” to the word “constituents.”

Strachila said they will wait until the election to allow students to vote on the change because they need at least ten percent of the student population to vote. They are most likely to reach that threshold during an election.

He said the committee will dive more into the bylaws at its first bi-weekly meeting at 7 p.m., Oct. 20, in CUB 310. The meetings are open to the public. Strachila mentioned the idea of mandating future presidents to form a Constitution and Bylaw Revision Committee every four years.

The Senate unanimously confirmed Rachael Spear to the elections board.