Student Government talks parking lots and graduate assistants pay

The 89th Student Government held their second to last meeting Wednesday night, with two resolutions on the table, as well as a successful election that was held earlier in the week. 

A resolution advocating for the pay raise for graduate assistants was discussed during the meeting, and a resolution the visitor pay lot free from 6:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. was discussed and passed. 

Douglas Roberts, a senator for the College of Graduate Studies, brought a resolution that would urge the University to raise the stipend given to Graduate Assistants from $10,000 to $18,000. 

Roberts has been arguing for a raise in this stipend, citing several issues that are faced by people in graduate assistant positions that come with the current rate paid. 

The motion refers to several issues faced by graduate assistants, including food insecurity, a lower than national pay for graduate assistants, as well as housing concerns. 

The resolution would call for the University to raise the pay to $18,000. It would also call for the introduction of a health insurance policy for graduate assistants and introduce more supervision to ensure that no more than 20 hours are being worked per week. 

The resolution was tabled for the week and will be brought back to be voted on at next week’s Student Government meeting. 

The second resolution brought to the table was from Off-Campus Senator David Wing, with the purpose to make the visitor’s pay lot free between 6:30 p.m. and 2 a.m.

Wing cited the fact that most parking lots are not enforced during that time period, including all gold lots. This difference is cited as creating confusion amongst students. 

The senator noted that during finals week several students will need to be on campus and will not be able to extend their “Flowbird” parking time. 

“Whoever the dummy was who had the old policy should be fired,” said Facilities Services Director David Cowan to the senate, referring to the policy prior to the resolution. Cowan stated that with the passing of the resolution, parking would honor the decision of the Student Government.

Header Photo: Cap Senator David Wing (left), and Senator Douglas Roberts brought up concerns about various issues discussed. (Dylan Long/The Reporter)

Write to Maxwell Mayleben at Maxwell.Mayleben@mnsu.edu