Student group creates online petition to stop Olin move

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Students against moving Olin Health Center’s services will make their point heard during the Board of Trustees meeting Friday.

MSU’s Student Health Advisory Council, or SHAC, is sponsoring an online petition launched last month to keep Olin services in their current location.

SHAC is a group of students who offer suggestions on how Olin can be improved and discuss student views of the health center.

University officials have said they are considering moving the university’s health services to the MSU Clinical Center on Service Road, which currently houses clinics, classrooms and various medical departments, including a radiology department. Olin is being reviewed as part of a university effort to deal with budget cuts.

“(We want) to show the administration when we go to the next board meeting … not just SHAC is concerned about health care on campus,” said Jay Thaker, an economics and public health junior. “It’s the student population at large.”

The petition had 148 signatures as of Tuesday. The group’s goal is to reach 1,000 signatures.

Student engagement, even in the form of a petition, shows students care about student health services, said James Hillard, associate provost for human health affairs.

“I’m really happy that people care about student health,” he said.

Hillard said Olin probably will not move anywhere next year.

“Form follows function,” he said. “We really have the time to figure out the function … Think about it in terms of locations, rather than location.”

MSU Trustee Donald Nugent said the board usually considers student concerns such as those embodied in the petition. Proposals that back up their argument with logic have more of an impact, he said.

“Some of them just say, ‘I’m opposed to it,’ or, ‘Don’t do it,’ with no real reason behind it,” he said. “Others are well thought out … those have more of an impact.”

Nugent said student opinions are important.

“It’s good for people to express their views,” he said.

Public relations graduate student Halley Buchan said students should be engaged in the discussions on the future of Olin.

“A petition’s not going to hurt,” she said. “It’s definitely going to show that people care about the situation.”

Students can give their opinions on health services in January, Hillard said. A student task force will be formed to examine different possibilities for services, he said.

Thaker said he is not sure how much of an impact the petition will have on the administration, but he hopes it will send an important message.

“It definitely will send a message to the administration and to the Board of Trustees that this is an important issue,” he said.

“They need to reconsider and take a look at the possible alternatives to what they have on the table.”

Hillard said most decisions on the future of student health services will not be made before next semester.

“We don’t want to rush to decisions,” he said. “On the other hand, we do want to make decisions.”

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