News > September 18, 2008

By CeCe Brooks | News editor

As part of an effort to encourage communication between the student body and the administration, Student Government hosted a forum on student life on Sept. 11. President Nathan O. Hatch and Vice President of Student Life Ken Zick were at the forum to answer students’ questions.

Students were directed to ask about topics they felt were important to student life.

“My goal was for students to come out and have their questions answered directly by administrators,” SG President Jermyn Davis said.

Davis started the forum by asking Hatch and Zick general questions regarding their opinions on student life at the university.

“How have you seen student life progress since your tenure here?” Davis asked Hatch.“I asked Dr. Zick what students should be concerned about this year, but most importantly what students should be excited about,” Hatch said. Topics discussed included the Juicy Campus Web site, bringing parties back to campus, tuition increases, the Strategic Plan and binge drinking.

“I wanted to ask the president and Dr. Zick about what the university was doing to accommodate the international students ... many of the administrators are unaware of the significant challenges that international students face,” senior Trayonna Floyd said.

This and other forums SG is hosting this month are in many ways the first of their kind.

Some student attendees appreciated the rare opportunity to discuss issues with administrators, but many felt the event did not reach its potential.

“I think any time Dr. Hatch and Dr. Zick are willing to give up time and answer questions in such an open environment, it is productive and I greatly appreciate their willingness to do that,” junior Wilder Hare said. “At the same time, I feel that the issues discussed at the forum are not the issues concerning student life right now.”

“I wish that more students would have been present because a lot of topics of interest were addressed, but overall I do think it was productive,” Floyd said.

“I think it helped the administrators see what issues students considered pertinent, and many of the questions that were asked helped the administrators see areas that needed clarification within the Strategic Plan.”

Whether or not this will be an annual event is yet to be determined.

However, Davis feels that he is fulfilling his responsibility to the student body, at least for this year.

“We’re trying to do our job, promoting what’s going on campus and that’s all we can do,” Davis said.