After lively debate, the Ohio University Student Senate passed two resolutions last night on abolishing a visitation policy for freshman residence halls and a university policy on course prerequisites.
Residence Life Senator Chris Frederick recommended the elimination of OU's current visitation policy, which restricts first-year students from having opposite-sex guests in their dorm rooms after midnight on weekdays and after 2 a.m. on weekends.
These students are the legal age of 18 and are able to make decisions on their own
Frederick said.
Frederick said 40 resident assistants and several students were surveyed about the policy; and the overwhelming response was that it is ineffective. The visitation rules can only be enforced if a student's door is open or loud voices are heard. Often violators are simply asked to leave without the incident being documented.
The majority of the Senate voted to adopt the resolution recommending that OU's current policy be abolished.
A second resolution addressed OU's policy that any course designated as a prerequisite may not be retaken to improve a student's GPA after the student has completed higher-level coursework in that subject.
Academic Affairs Senator Ryan Mick said this policy is rarely enforced by the registrar's office.
Bryan O'Shea, senator for the college of education, said the current policy may allow students to pink-slip into a prerequisite class if a valid reason is given, which could be an invasion of a student's privacy.
Mick agreed. Students should be able to retake classes no questions asked he said. They're paying for these classes and they should be able to retake them if they want.
Senate Vice President Katie Simpson argued against the resolution, saying it would be unfair to students in prerequisite class for the first time if a more advanced student retook the class. It also would lead to further grade inflation. I want my A's and B's to actually mean something when I leave here
she said. Do you want people to spend six years at OU making up grades?
However, the resolution to change the prerequisite policy passed in a 25-7 vote.
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Jenny Bonnar
