Ohio U.’s Graduate Student Senate gathered for its first meeting of the year last night to discuss topics it will address throughout the year, including student health care and budget cuts.
“We can anticipate another series of budget cuts (this year) that totals around $12 million,” said Tracy Kelly, president of Graduate Student Senate. “And that is being very conservative with the numbers… (This) is primarily due to a cut in state support. The difference for this can be made up by a combination of overpayment with regard to enrollment … (and) other forms of revenue.”
In addition to budget cuts, health care will be a primary focus of Graduate Student Senate.
“One of the issues that (Graduate Student Senate) will be focusing on this year is health care,” said David Nichols, vice president for committees and legislative affairs. “(We) have a particular interest in international student health care, and (we) will look at that very closely to make sure … that graduate students, especially international students, are being treated more fairly than they are now.”
With the health care being renegotiated and OU College of Osteopathic Medicine merging with Student Health Services this year, Graduate Student Senate hopes to keep a “hands-on” approach, Kelly said.
“We are going to have a presentation next meeting from Dean (of Students Ryan) Lombardi,” Kelly said. “We are going to have a health care committee after this presentation that I have already been assured will be in direct contact with the dean of students and the vice president for Student Affairs.”
The meeting also featured several presentations from officers as well as a report from the Office of Information Technology and the first Graduate Student Senate resolution.
The first resolution – which called for the addition of 24 senators to Graduate Student Senate – passed of the year with no opposition.
Graduate Student Senate hopes to have more resolutions generated and passed this year than last year, Nichols said.
The report from David Alexander from the Office of Information Technology focused on OU’s change in e-mail providers.
The senators will be the first graduate students to test the new Microsoft Exchange e-mail system. OU graduate students, faculty and staff members currently use Oak e-mail, while undergraduates already use the Exchange system.
“We are looking for feedback on the self-service process,” Alexander said. “Basically, (graduate students) pick a date to move and (they) can move (their current) e-mail from to the Exchange system.”