Graduate Student Senate is attempting to cut down on red tape for Ohio University international students who are seeking health care.
With the absence of David Nichols, vice president for committees and legislative affairs, university health care recommendations were limited. Both President Tracy Kelly and Molly Yanity, the vice president for communication spoke about the five recommendations senate has so far.
Mainly we are just trying to show the body what we have done so far and what information we have found that supports the recommendations that they have given us in the past
Kelly said.
Recommendations for the university include a less-expensive form of dental care, visual care, free and anonymous HIV testing and better prescription coverage.
Yanity said senate will give the recommendations to Dean Ryan Lombardi Monday.
These recommendations will go to Dean Lombardi next week as he goes to the table with United Healthcare to hammer the details out she said.
Kelly compared the options they are presenting to the university to OU's ten peer institutions, which included Clemson University, Auburn University and Washington State University.
We took things that we had heard in the past and then examined them against our peer institutions to see what we can find to further the cause Kelly said.
An important component of the recommendations was a waiver for health care for international students.
Kelly said that between 700 and 800 international students currently pay for health care, and most cannot waive it even though they already have coverage either through their employer or out-of-pocket expenses.
Graduate Student Senate passed a resolution calling for the university to waive health care insurance for international students who are interested.
Kelly said she has spoken to Student Senate, who plans on bringing a similar resolution at its meeting tomorrow.
If the resolution's twin were to pass in Student Senate, Kelly said she would sit down with Lombardi, Tiffany Schlein, student senate's international affairs commissioner and Krista McCallum Beatty from international student and faculty services, to discuss the next actions.
Hopefully that way we can start working out what would be provisions we would require for the waiver
Kelly said, adding that if all went well, it would most likely take effect next academic year.
In addition to international student health care waiver resolution passing, two other resolutions also passed unanimously. The first resolution called for the donation of $200 to History Graduate Student Association Conference.
The second one called for the appointment of two new senators, including Monica Thuney for the position of department representative for Latin American studies and Karla Gulker for the position of the department for African Studies.
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Olivia Arbogast
