Ohio University’s Student Senate meeting Monday night did not go as planned.
Due to an irregular meeting time and short notice, not enough voting members were present at the meeting to take a vote on changing senate’s budget rules. In order to take the vote, 22 voting members needed to be present, and only 19 attended.
Student Senate President Anna Morton plans to schedule an emergency meeting time within the week to take a vote.
Members who attended this week’s meeting heard from Mark Ferguson, executive director of Campus Recreation, and Ashley Beatty-Smith, a graduate student at OU and co-founder of PrOUd Parents on Campus.
Ferguson gave a presentation on Ping Center’s upcoming renovations, including turning the center’s lounge space into an extension of the weight room.
“All of our equipment is really packed in,” Ferguson said. “We’re trying to open up the space.”
The project is expected to cost about $140,000-$150,000 and should be completed by Aug. 1, Ferguson said.
Ferguson is also planning to start a Recreation Advisory Council to collect student feedback on recreational facilities throughout campus on an ongoing basis.
Beatty-Smith said her purpose in speaking to Student Senate was to raise awareness and build support for student parents on campus.
“There’s a huge invisible population on campus,” Beatty-Smith said.
Some of the issues Beatty-Smith discussed included a lack of family housing near campus, parking and the lack of an inclusive medical parental withdrawal policy.
Child care has also been an issue, as OU’s Child Development Center has a long waiting list and other stable options for care are scarce.
According to a previous Post article, $260,460 of the center’s $1,017,008 budget for 2014 fiscal year is allocated from OU’s General Fund. However, Beatty-Smith, whose daughter is currently 63rd on the waiting list with no time frame for acceptance, suggested that the CDC’s acceptance policy might not be fair.
“As (a) student you pay fees but don’t have equal access to the service” Beatty-Smith said.
Senate’s regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday has been cancelled in light of a visit from Michelle Alexander, Ohio State University law professor and author of The New Jim Crow.
Senate’s Treasurer Adam Brown, Black Affairs Commissioner Alexis Chambers, and Vice Commissioner of Black Affairs Kellee Perez worked to organize Alexander’s visit, Brown said.
Senate contributed $1,800 of its own budget and SAC contributed $7,200 to the total $17,500 needed to pay Alexander’s fee. The Department of Residential Housing, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Black Student Cultural Programing Board and the African American Studies department all contributed money to Alexander’s fee as well, Brown said.
The event will be held Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Baker University Center Theatre.
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