This spring, Ohio University students will have the opportunity to indicate their approval of President Roderick McDavis and his administration.
Citing fears of biased language, Student Senate reworded a ballot initiative asking for student opinion on the effectiveness and transparency of the McDavis administration.
Undergraduate Senate was following Graduate Senate's lead, as the graduate body passed a comparable resolution Monday. The senates were concerned with language in a petition on similar issues for which SEAL, Students for Effective and Accountable Leadership, was gathering signatures.
Dominic Barbato, Graduate Student Senate president, called the questions his body looked at biased. Gretchen Cataline, undergraduate senator for the Scripps College of Communication and primary sponsor of the resolution, said she thought SEAL's language was irresponsible.
The language in the resolution we're putting forward today is the most responsible thing we can do
Cataline said, emphasizing that the resolution did not force Senate to take a position on the administration but offered students the opportunity to do so. We're simply saying we and other members of the student body deserve to vote [on this].
SEAL president Maggie O'Toole attended the Senate meeting and said she would remove SEAL's petition from circulation.
We're more than satisfied with the new language O'Toole told Senate members.
Student Senate raised the issue of evaluating the president last April after the Board of Trustees met with the heads of each university constituent group to get feedback about the McDavis administration.
It is difficult perhaps impossible
for officers to represent adequately their respective constituent groups without first surveying their opinions
stated the resolution, which was passed with three abstentions.
Academic Affairs Commissioner Patrick Heery sent the resolution with an explanation to Board of Trustee members April 28.
For the evaluation to be meaningful and not simply polarizing
it must be a 'formative evaluation' whose chief purpose is to identify for the President areas both where he is in need of improvement and where he excels
he wrote.
Heery said tonight he would still like to see such an evaluation developed and is worried low turnout will affect how the administration responds to a student vote. His concerns stem from a vote organized by the American Association of University Professors last spring in which 75 percent of Athens and regional campus faculty surveyed said they lacked confidence the McDavis administration, according to a June 22 Post article. Heery said the results were not taken seriously in part because so few faculty ' 45 percent ' responded.
Senate hopes 20 percent of students vote this spring, Heery said. In 2005, 9 percent of undergraduates voted in the Senate election, according to a May 19 Post article.
My guess is (the administration) would respond similarly as they did to the AAUP . . . (But) due to the climate on campus
I think this issue will draw many voters
he said. My hope is that this may renew the dialog on a more comprehensive evaluation.
Student Senate plans to organize more opportunities for students and administrators to talk about the ballot initiative, now named Issue 1, before the election this May.
Through other resolutions, Senate commended the university for its handling of the RIAA music piracy problems, recommended changes to Hudson Health Center's Sexual Health Seminar and the Baker University Center catering policy, and expressed its support for Athens Beautification Day. In addition, senators passed a resolution expressing condolences to Bluffton University after the loss of four students in a bus accident Friday.
Ballot questions: before and after
SEAL's original petition:
Do you feel that the McDavis administration does not sufficiently seek out and respect student opinion with regard to University policies and the decision making process?
Do you feel that the McDavis administration has failed to make University budgeting and financial information available to the greater University community?
Overall, do you lack confidence in President McDavis' ability to lead Ohio University?
Student Senate's revisions:
Do you feel that the McDavis administration seeks out and respects student opinion with regard to university policies and the decision-making process?
Do you feel that the McDavis administration makes university budgeting and financial information available to the greater university community?
Do you have confidence in President McDavis' ability to lead Ohio University?
17
