Ohio University’s Student Senate met Wednesday night to continue their discussions about how to best reach out to students.
Senate President Nick Southall led a conversation about how the organization can improve its services to students, looking to create more programs similar to the complimentary blue books that are currently offered in their Baker University Center Room 305 office.
There was talk of planners, scientific calculator rentals and pens being available for students in the Senate office, though some saw the discussion more as a small faction of the larger conversation that Senate needs to be having.
“We are here to talk about ways to engage students and that is the discussion we need to be having … so I think this is a great first step,” said Jordan Ballinger, governmental affairs commissioner.
Members brainstormed how to best use the supplies as a way to start conversations with students.
Ballinger and Hashim Pashtun, international affairs commissioner, gave a presentation about the Ohio Student Government Association Conference, which some members of the body attended at Wright State University last weekend.
“It was really cool to meet with a student government just to see the differences ... (and) to see that we do something meaningful on this campus,” Ballinger said.
The mix of OU and Wright State student government representatives exchanged ideas about DARS, guaranteed tuition and the software system OrgSync, though student trustee voting rights were not a hot topic in Wright State’s student government, Ballinger said.
Senate passed a resolution supporting respectful language on campus, which had been discussed at last weeks meeting.
Tyler Daniels, current veteran affairs director, was voted into an at-large senator position in the University Life Commission, and the body approved a payment of $603.75 to the women’s commission to help cover costs for its upcoming “campaign for real beauty,” which will be similar to Dove’s “love your body” campaign.
Representatives from a former OU fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta, spoke to the body about reinstating the community on campus.
Phi Gamma Delta was an active student organization from 1966 to 2009 until its members stopped upholding the values on which the fraternity was founded, said Josh Moore, director of expansion for Phi Gamma Delta.
“We were finding that the men were not meeting our expectations … so we voluntarily chose to leave and come back and start fresh,” he said.
The Senate Appropriations Commission’s current budget stands at $102,294.75, while Senate’s budget is at $22,260.88.
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