The Inter-Professional Council represents more than 3,200 “professional” students at Ohio State and spends tens of thousands of dollars. But it has difficulties filling its leadership positions and keeping students aware of what the organization does.

“One of the problems is that people don’t have the time,” said Meghan Slanina, current vice president and incoming president of IPC.

The council held presidential and vice presidential elections this week. Each officer gets paid about $10,000 a year and gets a partial tuition waiver. Nonetheless, no one challenged Slanina for president and only two men ran for vice president.

Unlike Undergraduate Student Government, which represents about 45,000 students on the Columbus campus, IPC has few programs and an apathetic constituency. The council represents the students in the schools of law, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, optometry, dentistry and medicine. Each of those schools has its own student government that is focused narrowly on the interests of those students.

Making the professional students aware of the council and its work has “been a major problem,” Slanina said. “A lot of students didn’t go here for undergrad. They don’t realize the university is receptive” to the issues that affect them.

For example, the council was crucial in the movement to extend Wilce Student Health Center hours to accommodate professional students. IPC also attends the Athletic Council meetings and has been instrumental in the discussion about student football tickets.

“Our students have much different interests” than undergraduate students, said Slanina, a veterinary medicine student.

IPC members often find their career and school interests getting in the way of their commitment to the organization.

“A lot of people choose to participate [in organizations] within their own college,” Slanina said.

The council has 30 senators and “right now the senate spots are not very competitive,” she added.

The IPC will have more money to work with this year because OSU has hiked the student activity fee from $15 per quarter to $25. The increase will generate $4,000 more this year for the council. The IPC’s operating budget will be roughly $26,000 for this school year.

The council uses a significant portion of that money to garner interest in the organization. Last year they spent $1,233 on promotional materials such as T-shirts and coffee mugs. This year, they have begun to use the activity fee for “outreach lunches” at different professional colleges. This year, IPC has budgeted $8,500 for outreach and promotion and has already spent $4,400 of it.

“Some students didn’t realize the umbrella of IPC,” said Dan Klauer, a dentistry major and IPC president. “It is something that surpasses the college level. That’s kind of something we’re hoping … our senators will realize.”

IPC also used activity fee money last year to pay for food at monthly IPC meetings to get more people to attend. This year the council is paying for the food with fundraising money.

Since they have started serving food at meetings, “attendance has jumped 200 percent. We go as cheap as we can,” Klauer said.

IPC has also implemented an attendance policy that is stricter and can result in the removal of senators who cannot make the time commitment, Klauer said.

The attendance policy so far does not apply to the council’s retreats, which are paid for with activity fee money. In September, IPC paid almost $1,300 to send 10 members to a Reynoldsburg cabin overnight for team building.

“All the student governments have retreats,” Slanina said. “The more people know each other, the better they work together. More senator participation is great for a dynamic organization.”

But few IPC members attend these retreats. As few as five people have gone on these retreats in the past.

“Professional programs start at different times,” Klauer said. “It’s a challenge figuring out when to schedule.”

Nonetheless, IPC holds a significant role in supporting student research and study. The council is responsible for the $45,000 Professional Development Fund, which pays for research and education opportunities outside of students’ regular programs,
Klauer said.

The fund reimburses 20 to 25 percent of applicants who apply for research or travel reimbursement.

Also, Slanina said IPC has had “a better handle” on recording and keeping track of the money and has been providing annual reports.

She said group members hope the fund will increase in the future.