Graduate Student Senate receives less funding than Student Senate and other public universities in Ohio.
“The problem is you can see there is a huge inequity amongst GSS and Student Senate,” Maria Modayil, GSS president, said.
Vice President for Finance and Administration Office Chief of Staff Chad Mitchell said the budgets are chosen by university leadership based on if it’s Graduate Student Senate or Student Senate.
“The funding allocations to the two Senates are determined by University leadership, in consideration of available resources and resource allocations to all our units across the institution,” Mitchell said.
GSS has the potential to reach up to around 76 members, according to a previous Post report. Mitchell said the GSS general operating costs are $3,000 and also has $49,000 available to them for research and travel opportunities.
Mitchell said the general operating costs of Student Senate is $20,000. Student Senate also controls the Senate Appropriations Commission, or SAC, which disperses around $405,000 a year to student organizations.
In 2017 Fall Semester enrollment, there were 17,925 undergraduate students on campus and 3,480 graduate students, according to the Office of Institutional Research at Ohio University.
Student Senate President Maddie Sloat said in an email there are no paid positions in Student Senate, but the three executive positions receive partial tuition scholarships. Student Senate president receives about $14,000 a year, while Vice President Hannah Burke and Treasurer Lydia Ramlo are given about $5,000 a year.
Jenny Hall-Jones, dean of students, said all students, both undergraduates or graduates, have access to applying for SAC funds. However, there are strict rules and regulations regarding these funds.
Unlike other public university Graduate Student Senates in the state, Modayil as GSS president is the only person that receives any form of compensation at OU.
Modayil said she receives a tuition scholarship of $4,094 per semester and nonresidents charge award of $3,396 per semester. Modayil also receives a stipend of $14,950.
Kent State University allows the GSS President to keep a graduate appointment position while also compensating the president for GSS work, Modayil said.
Other university senate budgets are much larger. Kent State University has a budget of more than $435,000. Bowling Green State University receives $30,000, and the University of Toledo has a budget of $154,000.
In addition, all of Kent State’s executive positions are paid positions, Modayil said. They are also able to use their budget to hire a full time graduate assistant. The University of Toledo, however, uses $68,000 toward the tuition and stipends of their executive board, Modayil said.
OU GSS currently has three out of four of their executive positions filled, as they are still searching for a vice president of legislative affairs after the former executive stepped down, according to a previous Post report.
Modayil said the positions are meant to be purely service because that is what governmental bodies are about. However, she feels conflicted asking graduate students to stay and work on something when they aren’t being compensated.
“The challenge with graduate students is that they are doing their graduate programs, their (teaching assistant) or (graduate appointment) positions, and that takes up 20 hours of their life and then you have 12, 15 or 18 credit hours,” Modayil said. “It doesn’t allow for too much room to do other kinds of service activities.”
Graduate students also are not given the option for the OHIO Guarantee unlike undergraduate students. Modayil said the tuition for graduate students is a “very different concept.”
Most graduate students are able to get their tuition waived if they have a graduate appointment, Modayil said. Graduate students, however, are still required to pay an insurance fee which is the primary cost driver.
“I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing because that means there can be fluctuations,” Modayil said.
