Now that ASUO senators have passed a resolution requesting student involvement in the restructuring of the University’s funding mechanism and governance, they are seeking to inform more students about the issues.
Resolution co-author and ASUO Sen. Brian Powell said the resolution aimed to ensure student involvement in the issue, which has the potential to affect student tuition rates as well as basic University governance. Meanwhile, the resolution does not take any particular stance, thus ensuring it maintains importance.
“It’s important to note that any plan that’s going to go through the legislature, whether it’s viable or not, is going to be altered, amended (and) have to make it through committees,” Powell said. “So to take a stance on a specific plan as it stands now would be premature and could render the resolution obsolete even a month from now.”
Last May, University President Richard Lariviere presented a white paper introducing the New Partnership, his plan to create a board that governs the University to replace the one currently governing all Oregon public universities.
The New Partnership also urges new legislation to create a $1.6 billion plan to make the University’s funding more stable. The plan would be composed of $800 million in state bonds that would be matched by private investment.
All 16 senators in attendance at Wednesday’s Senate meeting approved the resolution promoted by several senators, as well as executive staff. Powell took this as an encouraging sign.
“I think that means myself and this committee are empowered by the Senate body,” Powell said. “To see that the executive and the Senate in their totality were able to come together to pass this resolution on the behalf of the student body is really important.”
Similarly, Sen. Brianna Woodside-Gomez said she sees senators and the executive working together as a victory for students both inside and outside the ASUO.
“Especially since the elections, we’ve had a difficult time working together,” Woodside-Gomez said. “This is huge. We were working together and making sure we were advocates for students.”
During fall term, Powell and other senators joined a committee that was created to discuss restructuring issues and work toward creating a resolution.
Woodside-Gomez said she joined this temporary discussion committee because she foresaw a large decrease soon in students who are able to attend school because of affordability.
“I don’t want to see the opportunity taken away because people can’t get financial aid,” Woodside-Gomez said.
Paul Shang, assistant vice president of student affairs and dean of students, said that while he hopes students understand the reasoning for the New Partnership proposal, he is not against the ideas in the resolution.
“I have to say, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing anybody (in the administration) opposes in the resolution,” Shang said.
In its current form, the Oregon University System’s board of higher education includes student and faculty voting members.
The ASUO’s hope in requesting these members is to simply maintain representative elements from the OUS in any new plan.
Though it appears all major factions in the ASUO have shown support for the broad-based resolution, there is work left to be done in order to inform the average University student about the issues involved.
“I’ve been going to all the committee meetings, and I’m still trying to understand the situation,” Woodside-Gomez said. “If you’re in the ASUO and don’t understand, definitely the average student won’t understand.”
Powell said they will be working more on student outreach now that they have a place to work from with the resolution. Powell has sent a copy of the resolution to Oregon Rep. Tobias Read and Sen. Mark Hass, as well as all ASUO senators and the student governments at Oregon’s public universities.
“(Legislators) have asked us to come out and say what we want on this issue, because students are the largest stakeholders in the universities. Universities are about us, so let’s make it work for us,” Powell said.
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