Dear President Skorton,

I am pleased to present to you Resolution 19, “Student Health Insurance Optional Dental Plan,” passed at the April 22nd GPSA meeting.

Resolution 19 is based upon research and the initiatives of Paul Berry, a member of the GPSA Student Advocacy Committee. The resolution identifies that the optional dental care for graduate and professional students may not be adequate as a dental insurance policy for our community. We recognize that Cornell’s SHIP Dental Plan is the only plan in the Ivy League that does not cover major dental care. Paul conducted a brief analysis for presentation to the GPSA on the potential costs given the SHIP Dental Plan and scenarios of operations that a graduate/professional student might have.

In the end, Resolution 19 calls for a study of how well the optional Dental Plan serves graduate and professional students. We hope that the further study would inform a change to the coverage for dental health for our community. I have also emailed this resolution to Dr. Janet Corson-Rikert and Jo Ann Molnar-Kieffer, as well as Vice President Murphy and Craig McAllister. I have attached Resolution 19 as well as the excel sheet that details Paul’s research.

Thanks and please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,

Mitch