Four of the six UOSA websites are in apparent violation of a state statute, according to a Daily investigation.
Oklahoma Statute title 74, section 3106.2(A) mandates public bodies keep websites updated and include recent agendas, minutes and meeting notices. A public body is defined as a governing body within a state, including boards of higher education and committees supported with public funds.
UOSA is composed of four bodies — the programming, judicial, executive and legislative branches. These four branches host six websites that can be accessed from the main UOSA webpage. Websites for the Executive Branch, Budget Council, Campus Activities Council and Undergraduate Student Congress are in apparent violation of the state statute.
UOSA currently receives $589,688 from the state, according to the OU-Norman campus budget.
The Budget Committee is the body responsible for allocating UOSA’s funds to registered student organizations on campus and has not updated its website since 2008.
It does not contain any minutes, agendas or schedules, just allocations from 2008 and applications for the 2008-2009 school year. Member listings are two years old, in apparent violation of the state statute.
Information on the Executive Branch’s website has not been updated since spring 2010. The website still lists Katie Fox and Dewey Bartlett as president and vice president, respectively.
Though UOSA updated its homepage with pictures of current president Franz Zenteno and vice president Cory Lloyd, it did not update the executive branch’s information and there are no agendas or minutes on the website.
“We’ve wanted to do the whole interface [of our website], but we have to go through IT. We kinda hit a roadblock because all UOSA branches go through the same site, so we couldn’t change just our part,” said Emily Payne, executive branch director of communication. “However, we have been updating resources throughout, such as applications.”
While the executive branch’s website has not been updated, Payne, a public relations senior, said the branch is using social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, to post UOSA events.
Campus Activities Council has an updated website with current members and upcoming events but does not include meeting notices, agenda or minutes from public executive meetings.
The Graduate Student Senate has maintained an updated website with members, agendas, notices and minutes since the start of the school year.
After Daily reporters questioned members of the Student Congress, agendas from last spring and this fall were updated on the website. Meeting minutes have still not been posted and the member directory has not been updated.
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HolaAmiga 1 year, 8 months ago
The Daily violates the fundamentals of responsible reporting, which is unfortunately not a criminal act. Minutes are not a required part of the postings mandated by Title 24.
DylanC94 1 year, 8 months ago
What does Clarke Stroud and President Boren have to say about all of this? And I don't mean Clarke's hot secretary Brynn Daves who deals with UOSA for him speaking on behalf of Clarke either!
localsooner 1 year, 8 months ago
No one cares
glazedwithrainwater 1 year, 8 months ago
Once again, where is the Moderator in regards to these postings?! As staff, Ms. Daves is not a public figure. Regardless, the "hot secretary" comment by DylanC94 is sexist and offensive. It should not have been allowed to see the light of day. When is the Daily going to take their job seriously and actually moderate these forums? Otherwise, you might as well let anyone post whatever they want.
grhm 1 year, 8 months ago
glazedwithrainwater, while the comments were out of taste, any public employee is a public figure, thats why their salaries are public record
quotetheraven 1 year, 8 months ago
Grhm- actually, public figure is a legal term relating to slander/libel suits. Ms. Daves is not a public figure just because she has a public salary. She does not fit the public figure definition set down by the Courts of the United States. Please see Curtis Publishing Co. vs. Butts (1967) and Hustler Magazine Inc. vs. Falwell (1988) for more on this issue.
Staff at this university should be respected and not dragged into public figure fights and arguments. Staff simply do their job to the best of their ability. Commenting on Ms. Daves is inappropriate and a dereliction of this paper's duty to moderate its forum.
DylanC94 1 year, 8 months ago
Clarke Stroud doesn't pay attention to UOSA. He passes it off to his secretary until it's time to be a cool dude and party with the students. Period!