Ohio University voted to send representatives to the Ohio Student Government Association, a duty that has traditionally been neglected in the past.
Though Ohio University Student Senate has traditionally neglected appointing senators to the Ohio Student Government Association according to a recent resolution, senate voted Wednesday to send delegates to OSGA conferences this year.
OGSA is a representation of university student governments in Ohio "working for the betterment of the student experience," according to its website. Landen Lama represented Ohio University at OSGA’s fall conference this year.
“They’re one of the primary reasons why Ohio State has a pilot program right now for voting student trustees,” Lama said of OSGA. “This is something we should really be a part of, and we should be a part of it year after year.”
Senate President Gabby Bacha, who will also attend the conferences, added that OSGA could be a useful tool for solving issues on college campuses across the state.
“OSGA is huge and a lot of times it gets neglected just because their meetings are a little farther away so we don’t always participate in it, but I feel that it’s very important to participate in it," Bacha said. “There are lots of campus issues happening right now in the world and this is a great group to be able to lobby on behalf of those issues."
Also at Wednesday night’s meeting, senate passed resolutions to create a Center for International Studies senator and appoint Brooke Siggers to that position.
In addition, senate appointed Nicole Riker as the College of Arts and Sciences senator, Megan Hepp as women’s affairs senator and Cassidy Cleland as off-campus senator.
Additionally, Michael Williford, OU's associate provost for Institutional Accreditation, gave a presentation on the university's accreditation process.
“Let me share a dirty little secret: most people don’t care about accreditation,” Williford said. “The basis of accreditation is: ‘are we doing what we say we’re doing?’”
Ohio University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission through the Academic Quality Improvement Program. A reaffirmation of OU’s accreditation is scheduled for 2015-16, beginning with a AQIP team visiting the university this November.
Bacha also gave a presentation on a textbook exchange service she hopes to make available to Ohio University students in late November.
She also advised senators to be wary of their Halloween costume choices.
“Make sure to be sensitive to all the cultures on campus,” Bacha said.
mb076912@ohio.edu
@mayganbeeler
