Graduate Student Senate heard from an array of speakers and debated how to best increase their university representation at Monday night’s meeting.
Anna Wenning, the newly hired Ohio University Health Insurance Administrator, kicked off the meeting by addressing the body about the university-wide health care policy. She encouraged students to deliberate among themselves their needs and concerns regarding the current policy.
Negotiations discussing the 2013-2014 health care policy are currently taking place with the goal of having the policy finalized by mid-April, Wenning said.
The national health care reform will cause an increase in the policy cost, but Wenning hopes that communication about students’ desires for the policy will help make it more suitable to them, despite the rising costs.
Representatives for the 8th annual History Graduate Student Association Conference and for Athens Beautification Day spoke to the body asking for donations. GSS approved resolutions to supply $100 donations to each event, along with a resolution approving $200 of funds to be put towards the cost of GradFest, which is taking place Saturday, Feb. 16 at Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery.
The most active debate of the night came when the resolution to create three new at-large positions in GSS was suspended until further discussion after members voiced their concern.
The new positions aim to bring non-department specific representatives to GSS so that graduate students’ general needs, such as housing, can be more fully addressed, said Joel Newby, commissioner for Graduate Life.
“Everybody has a certain, individual program need … we don’t have that go out and get it person,” Newby said. “An at-large position would cover all of the university.”
However, not all members saw the need for these positions, including Molly Yanity, vice president for Administration and Finance.
“Just because you are the representative from a school or department, nothing prohibits you from looking abroad to other departments,” Yanity said.
GSS voted to suspend the voting of this resolution until further discussion, but four resolutions were passed at the meeting.
Two new members, Richard Greene for the position of department representative of geography and Albert King for the position of department representative of chemistry and biochemistry, were appointed at the close of the meeting.
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