Students Give the Administration A 'Capitol' Grilling
Campus leaders gathered at the state capital to discuss Union's future | PC: Danica Eylenstein
If you weren’t at the riveting town hall last friday, you missed out on a lot of crucial information concerning improvements on our campus. As student leaders and administrators convened in the State Capitol, many ideas and concerns were thrown around.
The newly selected VP of Enrollment, Michelle Mesnard, weighed in on the issue of having online classes in the future. Enrollment is currently working with a company that’s researching what types of courses students usually transfer in and coordinating with either our own professors or looking at potential teachers to provide this benefit. The ideal audience for this project are non-traditional students, namely those who are older or who want to come back to school to finish off their degree. They hope to launch this program by next summer.
Quite a few students agree that acquiring a new recreation building will benefit all of the Union community. This was another idea brought to the floor. While our tuition money can’t fund this new project, we can search for donors who would be willing to help us out. The plan is to add extra floor space to the north side of the Larson Lifestyle Center, which will include a gym with cardio equipment and a walking track on the second level of the gym. Although this would be the ideal proposition, the Larson Lifestyle Center is a bit old. Since we cannot add a new facility over a place that is outdated, architects have been asked to sketch out some ideas they have. You’re welcome to ask Dr. Sauder or Steve Trana to view these designs.
Another idea that was brought up was to create a student-run business onto campus to generate revenue for the school. As Charmaine Ang stated, “The business can give more employment opportunities for international students who are not able to work off-campus.” Suggestions were made by various students to have later hours than the Union Market so those who are student athletes or have late lab days can still find food on campus. Liz McDonald recommended that the business not necessarily provide a full course meal, but have sandwiches and hot drinks. Using your ID card to pay for the meal was brought up as a possibility to incentivize student participation as well.
Along with this amazing concept, Kim Canine mentioned a delivery service to campus from restaurants such as Mr. Hui’s. You would be able to use your ID card with a small convenience fee and pick it up at Cooper’s at a certain time in the evening. Renae Cross asked if there was a possibility to add other restaurants for accessibility with our ID cards and it was stated that this is something that could work in some way.
Even if your question or concern wasn’t discussed, they will be addressed in the next few weeks either with our Student Senate or through a video. Make sure to be on the lookout for more information!
Yeimy Rodriguez is a sophomore studying business administration.