Setting the bar
To our fellow students:
Hope your semesters have gotten off to a great start! With all the excitement of the start of new classes and new roles on campus beginning to pass, we wanted to take a moment to set the bar for this semester.
First, we have three great announcements to make regarding new things coming to campus. Each day since you gave us the honor of serving you, we have been working toward renovating the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. We are closer than ever before. Please consider this your invitation to see the plans for the new Dedman Center at a town hall the week of Feb. 17.
The second announcement is for those student organizations who use the Students’ Association vans available in the Student Activities Center. We have ordered two new vans which will be here in early March and available to student groups. We know this has been a long time coming, but they are on the way.
The third new thing coming to campus is Bishop Boulevard. That’s right – this summer the boulevard will be rebuilt so that the campus’ main drag will no longer be the campus’ old hag. Construction will begin in May.
Additionally, your Student Senate worked for self-defense classes to be available as one of the Wellness out-of-class experience options. In order to address safety issues, a safety town hall was held during lunch in the Varsity last semester. The safety of people will always come before the safety of property, but we are working toward ensuring both.
Parking will continue to be a problem on this campus. And, therefore, parking tickets will likely continue to weigh on students’ minds. Last semester for the first time a parking education class was offered to wipe three tickets off a person’s record. With a continued commitment from Student Senate and the police department, this class will continue.
Another issue constantly on our desk is that of tuition and the university’s budget. This year we have been working toward keeping the annual tuition increase under control, despite the renovation of the Dedman Center – a project we support. The Board of Trustees will be voting on the tuition increase towards the end of this month, and, of course, we will let you know the results of that decision. Last week’s town hall meeting about tuition and financial aid went well, and we appreciate all the students who made it out.
The primary problem with financial aid is that despite the increases in tuition, not all scholarships are increased. While indexing scholarships would be a significant cost to the university, we continue to urge that as part of the long term plan. In order to set the example, your Student Senate passed bill number F-02-11-26 to fund the indexing of the scholarships handed out by the Student Senate.
Minority recruitment and retention are two issues each of us ran on and have spent considerable effort toward improving. One example is the most affirmative new Student Senate program regarding this issue in years: the Student Senate Diversity Committee will be working with the Division of Enrollment Services to discuss the progress of the class of 2007.
The Diversity Committee has been working closely with Global Connections and other student groups. We are committed to the continual improvement of this issue for diversity is crucially important to all students’ educational experience.
Another student concern that we continue to engage the administration on is the placement of cheerleaders at the basketball games. For those of you who haven’t noticed, the cheerleaders were moved from in front of the students’ section to across the gym. This move allowed the Department of Athletics to sell courtside seats where the cheerleaders used to stand. We authored Student Senate Resolution Number F-02-11-30 which “strongly urg[ed] the Department to seek new ways of finding funds without displacing the cheerleaders.”
One final issue we are currently addressing is Pony Express. With the expansion off campus going well and moving rapidly, we have encouraged the administration to let the students know where it is now usable.
Also, we continue to work on making Pony Express dollars usable in Ford Stadium, the Meadows School Box Office, and McFarlin Auditorium. Hopefully, those three on-campus locations will be available soon.
These accomplishments and goals would not be possible without the work of the following people: Andrew Baker, Phil Brunger, Chris Cagle, Sean Camarillo, Ann Chao, Ben Coats, Read Coleman, Quincey Crecelius, Matt Darrah, Lisa Dessi, Michael Dorff, Ashley Earnest, Lewis Ekiye, Heidi-Marie Ferren, Richard Ferry, Morgan Gaskin, Andy Gaither, Lindsay Germano, Matt Gordan, Kyle Goss, Chase Hassan, Trevor Hubbard, Lyndsey Hummert, Wilfred Job, Matt Kuberski, Heidi Kuglin, Cristin Lavelle, Deborah Lawson, Kristen Lindley, Becca McCauley, Robbie McDonough, Ankur Mehta, Prashanth Mudigere, Blake Norvell, Andrew Novak, Chibuike Okoro, Elizabeth Ortiz, Prem Panchal, Kate Parkhouse, Leslie Parks, Jeff Pope, Meredith Price, Robert Quach, Asad Rahman, Matt Richardson, Christopher Robertson, Adam Russell, Byron Sanders, Steven Schindler, Alli Segal, Jimmy Tran, Grant Walsh, Brett Warner, Philip Weigand, and Bradley Wilson. Thanks to each of you!
Whether it is fighting excessive tuition increases or trying to get a new bike rack installed, we are here for you. Thank you for the honor and privilege of serving you, and please come see us if there is anything we can do. Our offices are on the third floor of Hughes-Trigg in the southeast corner, call us at 768-4448 or 768-4449, or drop us a line at [email protected], [email protected], [email protected].
Setting the bar
Setting the bar
