Graduate Student Senate passed a motion last night asking for more student representation on the search committee for a new executive vice president and provost.
The search committee includes 23 members and three of them are students, one of which is a student trustee, said Pete Wickman, president of the senate.
The senate is looking for more representation to help strengthen the student voice on the committee, especially because the provost position is vital to academic operations, said Paul Isherwood, vice president for Finance and Outreach of the senate.
President Roderick McDavis said he would consider a request for additional representation, Wickman said.
Faculty Senate passed a resolution last week challenging the structure of the search committee on the grounds that it violates the faculty handbook by not containing a faculty majority or a faculty chairperson.
Graduate Student Senate also passed a resolution at its meeting recommending that Winter Intercession last at least four weeks under the semester system.
The committee planning the switch keeps returning to the argument over the length and timing of the break,
Wickman said.
We have to deal with each interest group separately
he said.
One calendar proposal holds the start and end dates static from year to year while adjusting the break from two to four weeks accordingly.
No one wants a two-week break Wickman said.
The senate felt that graduate students benefit from a longer break because they often do research and work during that time, said Adrienne Isgrigg, representative for the department of psychology and a co-sponsor of the resolution.
The senate sent an e-mail to graduate students earlier this year asking their opinions on the length of the break. Of the 107 respondents, 79 percent responded that they would like the break to last at least four weeks.
Putting the request into writing helps give graduate students a voice on the committee, Isherwood said.
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