Student trustee voting rights have been put in front of Ohio’s General Assembly yet again, and Ohio University is one of the “non-believers” in the legislation.
That statement came from Ohio State Rep. Mike Duffey, R-Worthington, who is cosponsoring House Bill 111, introduced last week. The bill would make it mandatory for student trustees to have voting rights — a subject on which OU students and administrators disagree.
“If (the administration has lobbied against student trustee voting rights), those actions are offensive to the core of shared governance, the core of the institution and offensive to the core of Student Senate,” said Amrit Saini, vice president of Student Senate.
Jennifer Kirksey, chief of staff to OU President Roderick McDavis, said OU’s administration is not actively blocking HB 111, but has expressed concern with the proposal in the past.
“We have concerns about how a decision to grant voting rights would impact student trustees,” Kirksey said in an email. “We value their role and want to ensure that their student experience would not be negatively impacted, because with such rights, it would change their role as a student.”
Duffey was a cosponsor of a bill, HB 377, in the previous General Assembly that would have given Ohio universities the option of giving their student trustees voting rights.
“Ohio University and Bowling Green State University had been fairly vocal within the Inter-University Council in opposing our original as introduced version that it was mandatory,” Duffey said of the previous bill, saying pressure from OU was part of the reason the first bill made voting rights optional.
HB 377 passed the House and unanimously passed the Senate Education Committee but never came up for a vote on the senate floor, Duffey said.
“Out of the 38 states in the U.S. with student trustees, 32 give at least one student trustee voting rights,” Duffey said.
Both OU student trustees said Tuesday they do not back student trustee voting rights.
“I would not support a bill for student trustee voting rights to be mandated,” said Allison Arnold, the senior student trustee. “I stand by my belief that student trustees are extremely effective in their current roles.”
Arnold and Amanda Roden, the junior student trustee, both cited student trustee safety as a reason to not have voting rights, as they have to deal with backlash from students when the board makes an unpopular decision.
However, Student Senate has passed a resolution supporting student trustee voting rights for the past two years.
“I believe that student trustees should have the right to vote, and I believe that’s the sentiment throughout Senate as well,” said Zach George, president of senate.
dd195710@ohiou.edu
