The Graduate Student Organization Senate unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday opposing a university fee that will charge graduate students’ children and other dependents to use campus facilities.

Syracuse University’s Department of Recreation Services will charge an annual fee of $80 and $120, respectively, for individual and family use of any recreational facility on campus. The fee comes over a month after the opening of the Barnes Center at The Arch.

The GSO Senate demanded these services be free for graduate student dependents.

“I have heard a lot of worries from students’ families saying everyday (their finances) get worse and worse,” said GSO

President Mirjavad Hashemi. “And every day something removes access to free services for dependents.”

Graduate students survive on university stipends and are paid as little as $14,000 for teaching assistant work, according to the resolution. Many dependents of international students are prohibited from working in the U.S. but must live with and support other people with limited incomes, the resolution states.

Hashemi said there was no GSO representation at meetings concerning the proposed fee.

“We are bringing a resolution to the Senate to get graduate student body support for that,” Hashemi said. “Hopefully we are going to reverse this policy.”

An official from Recreation Services said a GSO representative attended a discussion about the cost to students’ dependents but could not give him information about who specifically attended, Hashemi said.

“The real big issue is that we weren’t talked about or consulted about,” said former GSO President Jack Wilson.

Wilson was unaware of discussion about cost to graduate student dependents with representation from GSO while The Arch was being built, he said.

Hashemi also addressed the Senate about a proposal from the National Labor Relations Board to remove graduate students’ recognition as university employees.

“That takes the right of petitioning away. That’s the right that GSO thinks should be protected,” he said. “Graduate student platforms should be free as possible to organize when they want.”

Other business
The Senate also passed an amendment to the GSO Constitution that allows the Executive Board to nominate graduate student representatives to relevant bodies outside of GSO but within SU. University bodies such as committees and task forces that require graduate student presence will ask GSO to nominate people to those positions, said Nick Mason, GSO internal vice president.

Sam Blakley, first year master’s student, was elected University Senator by the GSO Senate. Evangelos Nastas, a former physics program senator, was elected at-large senator.

Published on October 16, 2019 at 10:23 pm

Contact Richard: rjchang@syr.edu | @RichardJChang1