Graduate Student Senate will vote on a resolution that would no longer require the Board of Elections chair to be in his or her final term.
February's Graduate Student Senate meeting will look at eleven resolutions on Monday, including one to amend the requirement of immediate graduation of the senate’s Board of Elections chair .
“That is probably the most important resolution of the night because currently the way the rules are set up, we have to find a graduate student who is not in GSS, but is willing to get involved and participate and to be our Board of Elections chair,” said Graduate Student Senate President Carl Edward Smith III. “They also have to have enough time to do this and they have to be very trustworthy and not biased and based on the rules they have to be graduating immediately that term.”
Smith wants to change the current rules because the number of people who fit this description is “non-existent.”
“It’s so small you will practically never find anyone like this,” Smith said. “So we have to eliminate one of the statues there if we are ever going to be able to practically find a Board of Elections Chair.”
As graduate students prepare to finish their last terms, they are often busy with thesis, dissertation and research work, so those who are preparing to graduate are not typically in a good position to take up the responsibilities of Board of Elections chair.
“So we decided to get rid of the immediate graduation requirement so we can free up other grad students who aren’t busy in their final terms,” Smith said.
This resolution will be voted on alongside another resolution to appoint a Board of Elections chair.
GSS members will also vote on a resolution for a governmental affairs commissioner to serve as Graduate Student Senate appointee to the Center for Student Legal Services Board of Directors.
At January’s meeting, a resolution was approved for an organized boycott of the Center for Student Legal Services.
GSS has never appointed a graduate student board member to the Center for Student Legal Services, said Patrick McGee, managing attorney for the CSLS.
In the past, GSS members would often work in the CSLS office, though not in an official capacity for GSS, McGee said.
The resolution, passed at the last GSS meeting, called for all graduate students to waive the student legal fee.
“The board invited me to attend and present at the last meeting and they’re entirely open to creating a new position for a permanent graduate student senate appointee,” Smith said.
Four resolutions concerning budget will discussed at Monday’s meeting.
Over the weekend, the budget committee reviewed several budget requests and approved four budget resolutions that are on the agenda, Smith said.
The resolutions focus on the budget for Ohio University Cricket Club, GSS Social, GSS Archive Project and redesigning GSS’ website.
Also happening at Monday’s meeting are: a resolution to support graduate assistant partial student health insurance waivers and a resolution to approve a new Graduate Student Senate logo. New members will also be appointed.
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