The University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) unanimously passed a resolution at Wednesday night's meeting to create a legal services program for Penn State students.

"I see this as step one in a very long process," UPUA President Gavin Keirans said. "From this we can really start negotiating and get the ball rolling."

Keirans said he hopes to have the program finalized as early as this spring, with students initially being offered legal services from an attorney, a staff assistant and five Penn State Dickinson School of Law students who earn credit by serving as interns.

By the third year the program will expand to three attorneys, two staff assistants and 16 interns from the Dickinson School of Law.

Funding will be provided jointly by UPUA, the Office for Student Affairs and the Graduate Student Association, according to the resolution.

The program will initially offer services for issues such as tenant-landlord disputes, lease agreements, and debt and loan issues, and will later expand to domestic abuse, sexual assault and rape, as well as summary offenses, according to the resolution.

There are no plans for the program to expand to services for all criminal offenses, such as felonies, Keirans said.

The program was one of the major aspects of Keirans' platform when he ran for UPUA president, he said.

UPUA also approved Mary Edgington, senior director of union and student activities, as the UPUA adviser, and Nicole Zinni (sophomore-international politics) as the UPUA religious affairs director.

The student government also approved the resignation of on-campus representative Kaitlyn Kunkle.