University President Bryce Jordan updated graduate students about health insurance, teaching assistant training and fellowships at last night's Graduate Student Association meeting.

Ken Martin, GSA president, said inviting Jordan to speak at a GSA meeting once a year gives graduates the opportunity to meet the University's chief administrator, ask him questions and voice their concerns.

Jordan said a University committee on health insurance needs, which met for the first time in February, is scheduled to report its recommendations by May.

The committee was formed to determine if the University should require health insurance for international students and graduate teaching assistants. "I hope we can find a program that will give you more for the dollar," Jordan added, referring to the quality of the University's current health insurance policies.

Currently, graduates can choose from either the Colonial Life policy offered to all University students or the Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy available through GSA.

Jordan also said the University will make any new policy available to all students, but optional.

New guidelines generated by the committee's recommendations will come too late to attract graduates during this year, and it is questionable whether any new requirements will affect incoming students, he said.

Speaking on another issue Jordan said the Faculty Senate Committee on Undergraduate Instruction is examining a proposal for the Office of Instruction and Development to increase teaching assistant support.

He said the proposal would help teaching assistants who have trouble communicating, in both the English language and class organization.

Jordan stressed, however, that he believes many departments already provide adequate training.

"Increasing the number of graduate fellowships (from the University) is a high priority in the Campaign for Penn State," he said.

The Campaign is a six-year effort to raise $300,000 for the University through private contributions.

The Graduate School now offers 28 fellowships, Jordan said. The fellowships are funded by interest accumulated from $2.3 million in endowments, and have no service requirements.

Chris Shuman (graduate-geoscience), a GSA delegate, asked whether fellowship awards will be made for longer than the usual one year period, saying "(It's) a bit of a tease."

However, Jordan said he believes using fellowships to recruit new students is legitimate.

Representatives from the American Indian Student Association also attended the meeting, voicing complaints that the University administration has not been sensitive to the needs of American Indian students.

Statistics reported by Robert Dunham, vice president for Academic Services, show 45 graduate and 72 undergraduate American Indians enrolled in the University in 1988.

Richard Kaiser, president of the American Indian Student Association, said he feels the administration has been "just plain ignoring" the American Indian population on campus.

Mushkooub (graduate-education administration), also an American Indian, said, "The Indian people represent one of the smallest minorities on campus. We have a place too."