Student Council passed a resolution that calls on the University to increase public access to information about dependency overrides — a process for students to annul any financial aid dependence on their parents — at its General Body meeting Tuesday. Student Council also voted to support a Virginia House bill mandating that sexual assault forensic examiners be available across universities in the Commonwealth and tabled a resolution that would establish bylaws for its new Endowment Advisory Council.
SR 24-04 calls upon Student Financial Services to publish information on their website about how to apply for a dependency override, aiming to increase transparency about the process and address the lack of awareness about the service among the student body. According to Jason Almas, co-sponsor of the bill and third-year College Rep., dependency overrides for financial aid are granted to students who have “irreconcilable differences” with parents or legal guardians whom they would traditionally rely on for tuition support.
The three co-sponsors of the resolution discussed how the lack of dependency override information disproportionately affects students who do not have sound relationships with their parents or guardians, including LGBTQ+ students whose families may not provide them with financial support due to their identity and students with guardians facing incarceration. Saehee Pérez, first-year College student and member of Student Council’s Legislative Affairs branch voiced her support for the resolution, saying the University should be transparent about the process of applying for a dependency override and how they decide who qualifies.
“There are federal guidelines in terms of what the U.S. government recommends public institutions to do when considering [students’] extenuating circumstances,” Pérez said. “But notably, at the very end [of the federal guidelines], there is writing saying that as financial aid officers, it is your job to practice your own discretion [when approving dependency overrides], which is why we think it's important to really be clear about what that discretion is.”
After the resolution passed without opposition, the Council addressed resolution SR 24-05, which proposed that it support House Bill 1342. The bill — which passed the Virginia House of Delegates Feb. 13 and currently sits with the state Senate’s higher education subcommittee — would require Virginia public universities with student health centers to staff one or more sexual assault forensic examiners.
Andreas Masiakos, representative body chair and third-year College student, sponsored the bill. He said the University Hospital is the only college medical center in the Commonwealth to already provide this service, in which nurse examiners are trained to treat victims of sexual assault with social and emotional care in addition to the medical duties of a typical nurse. The resolution also stated that sexual assault nurse examiners would be provided with “physical evidence recovery kits” and be trained to “testify knowledgeably in court.”
Thomas Phillips, director of Student Council's legislative affairs branch and fourth-year College student, said that he received an email from a Virginia Tech student who informed him that students across the state are advocating for public universities to staff sexual assault nurse examiners. He voiced his support for the resolution.
“The students are looking at U.Va. as the model … this has been a major point of inspiration and it's formed a coalition of other universities,” Phillips said. “What we see this resolution representing is us returning our solidarity to them. They looked towards us, and here we can offer our support in their goal to receive more health equity.”
Student Council unanimously passed the resolution before turning to a final bill regarding its bylaws. SR 24-06 would establish a set of bylaws for a new Endowment Advisory Council to advise the Council’s representative body on how the University’s recent allocation can be spent to best support student needs.
Student Council plans to use the $750,000 endowment fund, announced in November, over the course of the next three years. Student Council determines how the funds are allocated, and much of the funds have been focused towards increased investment in the Support and Access Services branch, which manages a range of programs providing services for students, including a student legal fund and airport transportation routes from Charlottesville to Richmond and DC.
According to Tichara Robertson, president and fourth-year College student, the EAC was originally intended to include two current Student Council executive officers, but the current Student Council discussed amending it to instead include a student member of the Hoos First Advisory Board and a representative of the University Office of Advancement. Hoos First offers academic and career development support for low-income students, while the University Office of Advancement oversees fundraising efforts and donations to the University.
Holly Sims, vice president for administration and graduate Batten student, sponsored the resolution and said the Advancement officer would help Student Council understand how the $750,000 endowment money should be spent over the next three years. She added that the Hoos First representative would help Student Council decide how best to spend the portion of the endowment meant to support first generation and limited income students at the University.
“The reason for the Hoos First representative is because of the spirit of the [endowment] being geared towards services provided by Student Council that is specifically targeted to that community,” Robertson said. “[We wanted to include] someone not directly involved in what Student Council does but can advise us on some of our essential services that go to those communities.”
Student Council tabled the bill as required in their bylaws, which mandates that any legislation concerning a change to the bylaws must be entertained at General Body meetings at least twice before being voted upon. Student Council will convene again March 12.
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