The University Resources Committee held its second open forum of the semester in Salomon 202 Monday evening. Issues raised at the forum ranged from wireless Internet to health insurance for graduate students in masters' programs. About 25 students, faculty and staff attended the event.
The URC includes administrators, faculty and students, and advises the Corporation on the University's budget. Because URC meetings are closed to the public and only administrators can present proposals, the series of open forums allows the committee to hear directly from individual students and faculty. Those attending Monday night's forum were mostly faculty members, and most students present were members of the Undergraduate Council of Students.
"It is an opportunity for people to provide feedback to the committee we wouldn't otherwise get," said Provost Robert Zimmer, chair of the URC.
Students and faculty used the forum as an opportunity to express their concerns about campus issues. Mike Williams '08 came to the meeting to advocate for increased wireless Internet access. "It was an issue I'm interested in, and a friend in UCS told me that this (forum) is ... the place to go," Williams said.
Other students voiced their concerns over the lack of a South Asian studies department and the allocation of transfer student financial aid.
Faculty also brought their concerns to the forum. Several faculty members brought up issues regarding the Graduate School, specifically concerns that Brown's graduate program is not competitive with other universities.
One faculty member, a graduate of the master of arts in teaching program at Brown, brought up the issue of the lack of health insurance provided for graduate students in master's programs. She said the current policy of providing health insurance to Ph.D. students but not master's students is inequitable.
Many of the concerns raised at the forum were not new to the committee. "There is very little here that hasn't already been presented by their respective administrators," said Elizabeth Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration and a URC member.
But Huidekoper said that does not mean the forums are redundant. Student concerns about financial aid for transfer students, which were raised at a URC open forum last year, were later addressed by the committee. This year's incoming transfer students were eligible for financial aid.
The URC will hold its third open forum Nov. 30 at noon.
