Student senators aim to increase grads' pocket change

by Erica Ryan
Staff Writer

Ohio University student senators adopted a resolution at last night's meeting to support eliminating the double graduation application fee for double majors.

Double majors must pay $100 - $50 for each major when applying for graduation, said senator at large Mike Waterhouse, a sponsor of the resolution. This fee goes into a general fund to pay for the graduation ceremony and other costs.

If a single-major student does not graduate and registers again another quarter, the fee is only $5 for processing, Waterhouse said.

This would be a reasonable fee for double-major students to pay in addition to their initial graduation application fee, he said.

This year about 8 percent of graduation applicants were double majors, Waterhouse said. The loss in revenue from fees would not be unreasonable.

Senators also adopted a resolution to create a priority scheduling committee.

The committee, consisting of faculty members, administrators and students, would decide which groups of students receive the priority scheduling option, Waterhouse said. This would involve evaluating groups that already benefit as well as processing new requests.

University Registrar Bill Jones now makes priority scheduling decisions alone but suggested forming the committee, Waterhouse said.

"Getting students involved in this process is important," said Greg Hall, city and county legislative commissioner.

In other matters, senators on the Academic Affairs Commission will meet with deans or dean representatives from all OU colleges except for the education and engineering schools on May 4.

Deans and senators will discuss academic goals for next year and address student questions, Academic Affairs Commissioner Heather Martin said. Students wishing to ask questions can send e-mail messages to askyourdean@yahoo.com.

Students from 10 of Ohio's 13 public universities will participate today in a phon-a-thon organized by senate to ask for increased state funding for higher education. Students will be calling state representatives from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the HDL Center.