The Affordable Care Act took center stage at the Graduate Professional Student Council meeting Tuesday night as members decided whether they wanted the university to opt in to a fully compliant plan.

The ACA, commonly known as “Obamacare,” took effect April 1 and was created to expand health coverage across the nation. Matt Ryg, vice president of administrative affairs, said the university is using minimal compliance to adhere to the law.

“It’s come in the time in the school year, this meeting and next, to voice our opinion about what kind of health insurance we want as a student body,” Ryg said. “Do we want a student insurance plan that is fully compliant with the Affordable Care Act or do we want to leave alone our minimally compliant plan?”

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The council agreed they wanted the students to have a fully ACA compliant plan and voted unanimously to propose a resolution to be voted on at the next meeting. If the resolution passes, it will be presented to the Board of Trustees at the April 17 meeting.

The ACA also came into the spotlight during the nomination process for next year’s members.

John Stewart, vice president of graduate affairs, was unable to accept a nomination for a second term because of what he calls the “75 percent rule.”

Stewart said the rule states because a graduate assistant can only work 75 percent of a full-time workweek, or 30 hours, accepting the nomination would put him above the limit, making him unable to continue his assistantship.

Stewart said he was unsatisfied with being unable to run and it hindered the democratic process.

“It does stifle representation because … someone tried to nominate me, and I understand that I’m just one person,” he said. “However, down the line, the majority of us in here have some sort of assistantship, and it does stifle representation because the individual being nominated can not take the nomination without compromising or coming between the two jobs.”

He said he brought up the issue with the administration multiple times, but to no avail.

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However, nominees were selected without Stewart on the ballot.

Patrick Hunn, Matt Ryg, Amanda Barnard and Ryan Ceresola were nominated for president. Barnard, Ceresola and Jenn Roche were nominated for vice president of administrative affairs. Ceresola, Barnard, Mike Levy and Andrew Gillespie were nominated for vice president of graduate affairs.

The potential name change of Undergraduate Student Government to Student Government Association was not on the agenda, but drew some criticism from members.

President Blaine Tisdale said while changing its name would not be a bad idea, the name Student Government Association could confuse graduate students as to which council to go to with concerns since it does not identify itself as for undergraduates.

“Our concern is that (it) implies that they are (the government) of all students because right now it’s the Undergraduate Student Government and the Graduate Student Government,” Tisdale said. “It’s a very clear distinction of who represents who, but a Student Government Association applies that they represent everybody and this isn’t the case.”

Tisdale said the name change was likely an oversight and the council elected to discuss the matter with USG President Adrian Miller at a later date.

The next GPSC meeting will be April 15 in Lawson 141.

Sarah Niebrugge can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @SNiebrugge_DE or at 536-3311 ext. 268.