UPDATED: Thursday, Feb. 15 at 12:39 a.m.

Graduate Student Organization members expressed frustration and said they were unaware of a private meeting exploring the possible replacement of an independent student law service with lawyers that would work for the university.

Jack Wilson, GSO’s president, during the organization’s Wednesday night meeting said he heard that the Student Legal Services replacement plans have been discussed by Chancellor Kent Syverud, Student Association President James Franco and Senior Vice President for Enrollment and the Student Experience M. Dolan Evanovich.

Wilson said he was notified of the meeting after it had taken place, adding that it raised concerns that the interests of GSO members were deliberately left out of the preliminary talks.

“We do not like this,” Wilson said. “The degree of independence that the SLS provides is absolutely critical.”

SLS, which is jointly funded by the SA and GSO, provides free law services to Syracuse University undergraduate and graduate students. It operates independently of the university.

Wilson said there were discussions at the private meeting to replace SLS with an in-house SU law service.

GSO members are worried that if SLS is defunded, they will not be represented in cases where there is a legal conflict between them and the university because the in-house legal team wouldn’t be independent of SU.

As a result, members said they believed they would be at a disadvantage if they needed to take legal action against the university.

Last year, Wilson said SA found that graduate students use about half of SLS’s resources while only paying a quarter of the cost.

“What they’re not understanding is what Student Legal Services can do,” said Rikki Sargent, the vice president of internal affairs, at the meeting. “If undergraduates were aware of the resources available for them, they would probably support it.”

Wilson said if GSO were to fund SLS in its entirety, that would cost the organization up to half its budget. SLS is a one-building operation that employs two lawyers and various other employees.

GSO members brainstormed alternative solutions for independent legal representation, which included possible plans to fund SLS at a reduced amount, or fund one person to cover immigration issues.

Wilson said GSO does not have a plan of action yet if SLS is replaced.

Shortly after the private meeting was discussed, the GSO proposed a resolution to openly discuss the prospect of unionization at the next organization meeting. The resolution passed with 11 votes in favor and five votes against. Three members abstained.

The vote came after GSO members heavily debated the legitimacy of unionization efforts. Syracuse Graduate Employees United, a graduate student union, has announced a union drive.

Wilson declined to comment when asked if the talks of unionization were related to concerns about the potential replacement of SLS.

Other business

Three representatives from a health insurance working group presented alternatives to the current graduate student health care program. Potential new student health insurance plans were explored as alternatives to current SU plans.

This post has been updated with a more specific estimate of the amount GSO would spend to solely fund Student Legal Services.

Published on February 14, 2018 at 11:36 pm

Contact Gabe: gkstern@syr.edu | @gabestern326