Ohio University Student Senate heard presentations from three university offices and appointed three women to fill vacant senate positions.
Ohio University Student Senate heard presentations from three university offices and appointed three women to fill vacant senate seats at its meeting Wednesday night.
The presentations took up most of the meeting and included Craig Bantz, chief information officer of OU’s Office for Information Technology, who spoke about communication between IT and students on campus.
“I believe that in order for IT to be responsive and meet the needs everybody has, we have to have kind of an ongoing discussion,” Bantz said. “A venue, a means of communicating not just with this body, but with all of my constituents, especially students, whose voice I think isn’t as present in the technology conversation despite its importance.”
Another presenter was Pat McGee, who spoke on behalf of the Center for Student Legal Services as its managing attorney.
McGee, who is also running as an independent candidate in November’s election for city council, echoed a similar desire to include student voices in conversations that impact them.
“Students are often treated as second-class citizens and that’s one of the reasons I’m running for city council,” McGee said.
Ji-Yeung Jang, associate director for strategy, relations and communication in the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs and International Studies Office, gave a presentation about expanding the opportunity for students to gain international experience.
“We’d like to see more students have international experience or global experience that will help them become competent once they graduate,” Jang said. “We want them to be competent and confident to operate in this global knowledge economy.”
Additionally, senate appointed Logan Stark to fill the position of Environmental Affairs commissioner. The position had been vacant since Sept. 16 when six members of senate, including Environmental Affairs Commissioner Grant Stover, resigned.
Cassidy Paul and Emily Hill were appointed to senator positions on the Women’s Affairs commission.
“I just want to be able to connect women-identified students to certain organizations and communities that could help them with issues they’re going through,” Hill said.
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