An agreement between Student Senate and Graduate Student Senate about separating their overlapping jurisdictions has been hindered after a proposed constitutional change was halted in committee.
The Graduate Student Senate has been talking to Student Senate for the past three quarters about changing its constitution to read that it only represents undergraduates. Student Senate's Rules and Procedures Committee voted down the attempt last month, Residence Life Commissioner Emily Shuki said.
All proposals must be approved by the committee before they can be opened for debate or a vote by the full senate.
A matter that a public
representative body should properly address in the most prominent and open manner has instead been mired in backroom politics and obscured through the senate committee process said Stephan Oechsle, vice president of Committees and Legislative Affairs for the Graduate Student Senate, in an open letter.
The proposal was voted down 4 to 2 in the committee because some members strongly believe Student Senate should continue to speak as a unified voice for all students, said Emily Bacha, chairwoman of the Rules and Procedures Committee.
The overlapping jurisdictions exist because Student Senate's constitution was never revisited when the Board of Trustees approved Graduate Student Senate's constitution in 2003, said Pete Wickman, president of Graduate Student Senate.
Separating the jurisdictions is important because Student Senate isn't doing a proper job of representing graduate students, especially after the one member who was a graduate student resigned, Shuki said.
If Student Senate approved a proposal in the Rules and Procedure Committee, it would then need a two-thirds vote from the senate and a majority vote from students before it could reach the board for final approval.
The effort started when Graduate Student Senate passed a resolution last year asking Student Senate to consider changing its constitution because having overlapping jurisdictions is confusing from a governance standpoint, said Dominic Barbato, former president of the Graduate Student Senate.
Graduate Student Senate presented at several Student Senate meetings last year and got a similar reaction, Barbato said.
As Graduate Student senators lobby the Student Senate, they are also officially trying to change their own constitution to read that they are the sole representatives of graduate students. Graduate Student Senate approved the changes last year, but in order for them to be finalized the Board of Trustees must also approve them.
These changes would not affect Student Senate's constitution, and the Graduate Student Senate is not requesting the board change Student Senate's constitution, Wickman said. But if Student Senate does not decide to amend its constitution, the senates will continue to have overlapping jurisdictions.
Graduate Student Senate asked to be placed on the agenda for the board's governance committee meeting in December, but was left off because Student Senate President Michael Adeyanju requested more time to come to an agreement between the senates. Adeyanju did not return repeated phone calls for comment.
Graduate Student Senate was also left off the agenda for the full board meeting in January because the senates have yet to reach an agreement, said Tom Davis, secretary to the board.
The board hopes the senates can resolve their differences so they can be placed on the agenda in April, Davis said.
jb149205@ohiou.edu
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Jackie Best
