ASMSU is MSU’s undergraduate student government.

Dysarz and Academic Assembly Chairperson Kristy Currier shared their reports about the trip during assembly meetings last week.

Dysarz and Currier left Jan. 27 from Detroit and spent about one week in Dubai drafting language for a change to ASMSU’s constitution before they returned to Michigan on Feb. 4.

“The thing was to have their council turned into a more legitimate student council,” Dysarz said. “(We needed) language that we could bring back that we could put before the students for everyone to vote for this spring.”

If approved, the change would add an article to ASMSU’s constitution recognizing the Dubai Student Council as a representative body for MSU Dubai. It also includes language detailing the composition of the new council, which would include a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and event coordinator.

The president would act as Dubai Student Council’s official liaison to the Student Assembly and Academic Assembly officials. Student Assembly approved the proposed language Thursday and will now head to Academic Assembly for a vote. If it passes, it will be placed on the ballot for spring elections, at which time students will be able to vote for or against the changes.

Although the trip resulted in what ASMSU officials referred to as “positive gains,” Dysarz said the specific details of the trip were not finalized in time to inform the assemblies before he and Currier left. The weeklong trip, which had a budget of $4,500, was officially announced on Jan. 28 — one day after the pair arrived in Dubai.

“We did it in a manner we thought was the most responsible that wouldn’t have caused public speculation,” Dysarz said. “That would have made the students in Dubai feel isolated, which is the very thing they don’t want. Now we’re back and (students) can scrutinize what we did, and why we did it.”

Despite some ASMSU representatives not knowing about the trip beforehand, they said they understood why they were not notified.

“I was a little surprised,” said Justin Lippi, a College of Arts and Letters representative, who learned of the trip via e-mail. “I think (Currier’s) explanation for why they couldn’t talk about in advance makes perfect sense. To have a public debate in the student body beforehand might not be conducive to (setting up a council in Dubai).”

Justin Epstein, who represents the Eli Broad College of Business, said although he was not aware Currier and Dysarz were headed to Dubai, he was happy to hear they took the trip. He said it was possible the process could have used more discussion prior to the trip, but he was sure Currier and Dysarz acted responsibly.

“I have every confidence they planned accordingly and used funds appropriately,” Epstein said.

Dysarz would not confirm when travel arrangements were made or how much was spent on the trip, but said the chairs followed the travel practices of the university and ASMSU. Currier said despite the other modes of communication such as e-mail, teleconference and videoconference, taking the trip was the best option.

“The nine-hour time difference is such a difficult issue that needed a different approach,” Currier said. “We needed to be there during the day during their time.”