By Jerenie Sands, The Daily Athenaeum
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU’s Faculty Senate discussed multiple pending bills in the West Virginia Legislature and heard from newly-named WVU President Michael Benson at its regular meeting Monday.
Eloise Elliott, Faculty Senate representative to state government, discussed multiple bills that would affect WVU if passed: House Bill 3279, House Bill 2397 and Senate Bill 474.
House Bill 3279 would remove voting rights of faculty, student and staff representatives on WVU’s Board of Governors (BOG) and was passed in the West Virginia House of Delegates on March 31.
The bill was previously discussed at a Faculty Senate meeting on March 10, during which members expressed their concern and emphasized the importance of student and faculty input in the University’s governing process.
Elliott said Faculty Senate members will receive a letter containing the contact information of state senators and encouraged them to voice their concerns about the bill.
“We are hoping for amendments to this bill, and of course, number one amendment is to give our people voting rights again. … Like President Benson said, we need to get our voices out there. So write something. It doesn’t have to be long, in a nice way, without being mean, try to enforce the fact that we are opposed to this and it’s important to us to be represented by our voices,” Elliott said.
