On Wednesday the Illinois Student Senate voted 17-4 in favor of a resolution seeking funds for graduate student mixers.

The senate’s Graduate and Professional Affairs Committee began co-hosting this monthly event last spring with the University of Illinois Alumni Association. The GPAC agreed to continue providing food items for the mixers with a budget of $250 per event over a course of nine months. The total budget is $2,250.

Student senator Robert Gregg authored the resolution, and after the meeting expressed satisfaction at being able to help sponsor the function again.

“We’re excited to be able to promote interaction between graduate students,” Gregg said. “We just needed to make sure that the funding was there.”

Jaclyn O’Day, student body president and senior in LAS, noted previous mixers had been successful and that graduate students are a significant part of the senate’s constituency.

“Graduate students make up one-fifth of the student population, so it’s very important that they’re well-represented,” O’Day said. “We’re always looking for ways to get students involved and connected with their government.”

The UIAA hosts the graduate student mixers at the Alumni Center.

Among other concerns voiced at Wednesday night’s meeting was a potential resolution to include U-C Senate Committee meetings as partial office hour credit in the senate’s bylaws.

Justin Umlah, graduate student and student senator, said that this proposal is important because it provides representatives with more time to meet with constituents. The potential resolution will appear before the Senate Procedure Committee before being voted on by the rest of the senate body.