Student leaders from seven universities in Ohio disagreed about student trustee voting rights Saturday during a discussion at the Ohio Student Government Association conference.
Ohio University Student Senate President Robert Leary kicked off the discussion by suggesting student leaders rally for a vote for the senior student trustee.
A student trustee would spend his or her first year getting acclimated and then be allowed to vote during his or her second year, Leary said.
OU student trustee Kyle Triplett agreed that first-year student trustees should not receive a vote because there is a learning curve but added that trustees do not represent student opinion only and voting on action items such as the tuition increase could be seen as a conflict of interest.
Any trustee could have a conflict of interest
Leary said.
To obtain voting rights, the state legislature would have to change the Ohio Revised Code. The state attempted to pass a house bill in 2000 and again in 2006, but it died in committee in the Ohio State Senate both times.
Student trustees would be more likely to receive a vote if supported by fellow trustees, said State Representative Debbie Phillips (D-92), who attended the talk.
Neither of the OU student trustees said they were definitely for or against student trustee voting rights.
I don't necessarily think the vote hurts but one vote is not changing the outcome said Chauncey Jackson, OU's senior student trustee, adding that most votes are unanimous.
Even if the vote did not change the outcome, the record would show whether or not students were against a specific action since it is the trustee's job to represent students, said Mark D'Apolito, a student senator from the University of Toledo.
Jackson countered, saying the trustees offer a student perspective during conversations with the Board of Trustees but do not represent students.
The senators also discussed the consequences of adding one trustee vote.
Giving a vote to the senior trustee would create an even number of votes, forcing the board to take away someone else's vote or give voting rights to another trustee, said Matthew Beddingfield, an OU student senator.
Some senators were also concerned about voicing a consistent student opinion.
Because student trustees serve two years, giving them a vote could lead to inconsistent student opinions from year-to-year, said Douglas Ealy, vice president of student senate at the University of Cincinnati. Student trustees at some Ohio universities are not allowed in the board's executive session, he said.
While all senators agreed that the board should allow student trustees into executive session, they did not reach a consensus about voting rights.
Ultimately
(the talk) hasn't changed anything
Leary said, senators' opinions seemed split down the middle.
Leary said that ideally, he would like the senior student trustee to have a vote and both student trustees be allowed into executive session.
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Caitlin Bowling
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Chauncey Jackson, an OU student trustee, explains his views about student trustee voting rights to student senators from across the state on Saturday. (Gwen Titley | For The Post)
