UOSA is a sovereign body responsible for its own actions, including recent supposed violations of the Open Meeting Act and state statutes, according to members of the University administration.
Last week, The Daily found that the UOSA Undergraduate Student Congress and other branches have been in apparent violation of Oklahoma Statute title 74, section 3106.2(A) by failing to update websites with current information. Some spokespersons blamed this on administrative roadblocks.
One reason chairpersons mentioned the websites were not updated was because they did not know how to update the website and wanted to hire an OU Information Technology student officer to work on it, said Graduate Student Senate chairman Silas DeBoer.
“[UOSA leaders] want to get an IT officer for UOSA paid at student worker rates, but that has to come with our negotiations with Student Affairs, as they technically are the ones who spend our money for us,” DeBoer said by e-mail. “We’ve been asking for an IT officer for three years running now.”
On Friday, Chris Shilling, university spokesman, said that is an inaccurate statement.
“Student Affairs does not control the UOSA budget,” Shilling said by e-mail. “It is fully under the discretion of UOSA. The statement that UOSA has been trying to hire an OU Information Technology student worker for three years but has been unable to do so because Student Affairs controls UOSA’s budget is puzzling because it is factually incorrect.”
Since 1969, UOSA has been the sovereign student government of OU students, Shilling said.
On Sunday, when asked about UOSA’s ability to hire an IT officer, DeBoer said UOSA’s requests for an IT officer go to a four-way vote between Clarke Stroud, the UOSA president, the Undergraduate Congress chair and the Senate chair. He said this vote has been deadlocked in the past, but expects a change this year, should the hiring come to a vote.
Although UOSA has a staff adviser, Brynn Daves, assistant to the vice president of Student Affairs, members do not have to consult her or follow her instructions.
“Students may choose to follow the advice provided or act independently,” Shilling said. “Even though Student Affairs doesn’t control UOSA’s activities and decisions, it does make every effort to educate and empower those in charge to make decisions on behalf of the student body.”
One such step was special training at the start of the fall semester to educate leaders about the Open Meeting Act and the state laws, he said. OU Legal Counsel met with the chairs of Congress, the Graduate Student Senate, Campus Activities Council and General Counsel.
DeBoer confirmed that OU Legal Counsel did meet with the four chairs.
“These individuals were then charged with making sure each of their staffs understood the requirements of these laws,” Shilling said.
Vice President of Student Affairs Clarke Stroud also said in an e-mail statement that chairpersons were trained on the laws and are responsible for the actions of their branches.
“While we have provided training to the chairs, the very nature of UOSA sovereignty requires action on each body’s part to ensure they are in compliance,” Stroud said. “We will continue to work with them and do treat these matters seriously.”
The Senate website is current and does not have any apparent violations of the Open Meeting Act.
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alaskaairborne 1 year, 8 months ago
There is a difference between allowing student government to act independently and turning a blind eye when student government violates state law. There is still a certain point where administrators step in.
Student Affairs needs to contact other institutions of higher education throughout the state to see how their colleagues handle these issues because noone handles it with this much of a laisse faire attitude.
The University's Legal Counsel should also be speaking DIRECTLY to each of these public bodies. Officers may have (and, in many cases in the past have had) a vested interest in deciding what to tell their members or what to withhold from their members.
Since authority is vested in the public body itself and the members are personally liable for violations of the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act, the Legal Counsel's obligation is to the body -- not the officers of that body.
whatsherface 1 year, 8 months ago
I get what you're trying to do by being a watchdog and such, which is noble and everything, except your 'articles' sound too one-sided and are written with a 'ha ha! got you!' attitude. I feel like you're trying to find anything and everything wrong with UOSA and picking it apart in the most immature, unprofessional way. Where's the view from 'the other side'? Where are the students' views? Have you ever given a thought to how apathetic most students are towards UOSA?
I would rather read REAL investigatory journalism about a real scam instead of some snide article about violations of a website being under construction, or read an article about how maybe students don't care at all about UOSA and therefore don't think you're any more noble about "exposing" the study government.
Just a thought. Because this UOSA stuff is getting pretty old and boring. You aren't roasting anyone, you're boring us.
-Sarah Gray
DylanC94 1 year, 8 months ago
I totally agree with the second comment. Didn't UOSA's Congress chair get a chance to write a column in defense of his organization last year? Why not do the same again?
HankL 1 year, 8 months ago
This is really stupid. 1)They hardly did anything wrong, this is far from some big scandal worthy of 3 days of front page news. 2) None of the articles have shown UOSA's point of view or whether they can produce the minutes missing from the website,etc. 3)Overall most students don't care about UOSA in the first place. 4)UOSA has little to no real power to abuse, therefore the rest of us have little reason to make a big deal out of or care about any minuscule mistake they made. Who cares, quit trying so hard to make a story.
HolaAmiga 1 year, 8 months ago
Once again, this chamber pot of a "news source" proves that journalistic values are being ignored at the University of Oklahoma. I nearly neglected to comment out of pity for this pointless article, but then I thought better of it.
If you want to be taken seriously, you have to present BOTH SIDES of the debate. In other words, get your story straight, and report responsibly.