Two groups of students are campaigning to be the next executive slate for Student Government Association.
The Daily News talked to the people each slate said they spoke to to find if their platform points would be feasible to complete within a year.
Summit — James Wells, Ana Batres, Emily Halley and Brock Frazer:
Point: Strengthen student relationship with freshman advisers
Feasible: Yes
Why: Mark Parkinson, associate director and academic adviser, said the traveling office hours would give students more opportunities and confirmed it would be feasible to do.
“We discussed the possibility of advisers having ‘traveling office hours’ on occasion in residence halls, the Atrium or other common areas,” Parkinson said. “This would allow students informal opportunities to meet their advisers and ask questions. We agreed to stay in contact to discuss such initiatives.”
Point: Strengthen the connection of minority students with peer and faculty mentors
Feasible: Yes
Why: Batres said they wanted to organize a diversity commission where they could get together with leaders of student organizations and talk within SGA Senate about what things they needed to work on relating to diversity to try to implement on campus.
Point: Put more waste disposals throughout campus and provide a clearer and simpler way for students to better impact the environment
Feasible: Yes
Why: Robert Koester, director of the Center for Energy Research, Education and Service, said the more opportunities people had to throw away trash, the better. He said it should be possible to implement.
Point: Strengthen Cardinal pride with sports by working to increase athlete and student relations
Feasible: Probably
Why: Shawn Sullivan, assistant athletic director for marketing and fan engagement, said it was most likely feasible — it was just a matter of logistics to work out. For example, players may not be available before games due to meetings or class schedules.
Point: Increase safety of students on and off campus and brighten up dark spots around campus
Feasible: Probably
Why: Jacob Cash, former presidential nominee for Cardinal Direction, said when he proposed a similar point to Mayor Dennis Tyler, he was assured it could be a possibility.
“When I ran for president with Cardinal Direction last year, we met with Mayor Dennis Tyler, and he assured us that if we were elected he'd be able to work on these points with us and make them happen,” he said.
Point: Unify small organizations with the Office of Student Life and SGA
Feasible: Unknown
Why: The slate contacted Melissa Ginotti, director of student life, but Ginotti said she did not wish to comment, because she is the adviser for SGA.
Lauren Berger, assistant director of student life, directed the Daily News to Ginotti.
Point: Film student senate meetings so all students can see what SGA is working on
Feasible: Maybe
Why: Juli Metzger, journalism instructor and coordinator of Unified Media, said it is a great idea and she is always in support of open government.
“I would be more than happy to talk about it. I don't know what the feasibility is. Am I in favor of it? I'm always in favor of an open government system. I don't know where they're going to have their meetings, I don't know what the technology is over there; we'd have to talk about it,” Metzger said.
Point: Create Muncie Appreciation Day
Feasible: Maybe
Why: Student Voluntary Services declined to comment on the feasibility of the point, but Atlas had a similar point last year and is in the process of implementing it.
Point: Make student appreciation day/week and maximize relationship between students and the university
Feasible: Maybe
Why: Ryan Reese, president of National Residence Hall Honorary, said this was a great idea, but did not feel comfortable commenting on the feasibility of this point.
“I feel that this point is a great idea to really show support and appreciation for all of the students on campus. ... I explained what NRHH did for our Housing Appreciation Week and how it was feasible for NRHH. I don't feel comfortable commenting on the feasibility of this platform point since I do not have all of the exact details about the appreciation week in terms of SGA," Reese said.
Point: Raise awareness for increasing need for counseling services
Feasible: Maybe
Why: Timothy Hess, director of the Counseling Center, said they would be open to conversation with SGA in the future about services offered, stigma on campus and university mental health.
Point: Increase awareness of healthy dining options
Feasible: Yes
Why: Karen Adkins, interim dining director, said dining has already agreed to implement this platform point because Ball State dining prides itself in its menus.
“Ball State dining has agreed to highlight a special display plate (entrée and sides) at Homestyle (Noyer Dining) and Comfort Zone (Woodworth Dining),” Adkins said via email. “Ball State Dining is an award-winning food service that prides itself in offering excellent menu choices, and it is our goal to continue to help our customers in making those better selections.”
Point: Use L.A. Pittenger Student Center as a 24-hour study lounge twice a semester, more if possible
Feasible: Probably
Why: Student Center Director Bruce Morgan said the details would be the determining factor of this point.
“This would be feasible; the final answer would depend on the details,” Morgan said.
Point: Provide a "host family" for all international students
Feasible: Unknown
Why: Ro-Anne Royer Engle, director of the Multicultural Center, did not respond for comment. The slate wants to pair international students with other students in their major to make it academic- and university-focused.
A similar program to this — Friendship Families — already exists to help international students transition to the university.
Point: Implement a dead week
Feasible: Maybe
Why: Nancy Cronk, registrar and executive director enrollment services, said Wells contacted her. Cronk told the Daily News to contact Marilyn Buck, associate provost and dean of university college. Buck said the idea is possible depending on the direction it takes.
“There are things that are good about this idea and there are some things that are not. The concept has been considered. Some of it depends upon what direction is taken,” Buck said.
Point: Start conversations on oppression with monthly summits
Feasible: Maybe
Why: Kay Bales, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, said the more students involved the better, however, it was not her place to as an administrator to discuss feasibility.
“I did have a short conversation with ... Wells regarding the idea of SGA hosting a summit regarding sexual assault with student government leadership at other Indiana universities,” Bales said. “My response was the more people involved in these conversations, the better.”
Point: Implement cultural and diversity training
Feasible: Yes
Why: Bobby Steele, assistant director of the multicultural center, said because the university already has Safe Zone training through the Counseling Center, starting up a similar program — as long as it’s well thought-out — should be feasible.
18 — Matt King, Greg Carbo, Lexi Williams and Race Bates:
Point: Increase amount of student art on campus
Feasible: Yes
Why: Arne Falten, director of the School of Art, said he did discuss the point with 18, and he said campus could benefit from more public art on campus.
“Certainly some of the public art items could happen rather quickly, but this also needs to be a long-term commitment, so we are looking at five-year and 10-year projects and goals,” Falten said. “With a relatively modest budget, the effect could be transformative.”
Point: Have executive members give 18 percent of their salary back to the university
Feasible: Yes
Why: Meagan Mullen, current treasurer of SGA, said the executive board can pool their own personal checks and donate the 18 percent to SGA if they want.
“Now, with what they’re proposing, they would only be able to do it with their money; they cannot force the future Pro Temp or the student secretaries that run the office desk to donate their money,” Mullen said.
Point: Increase university pride by making a hype team and getting people more excited for athletic events
Feasible: Maybe
Why: Jeffery Jacomet, a student volunteer in the athletics department, said the platform was putting the right foot forward to working to increase attendance.
“I believe that this will create a domino effect with students and increase attendance and university pride,” Jacomet said.
The slate said they contacted Michelle Johnson, director of homecoming and athletics programs for the university foundation, but she did not respond for comment.
Point: Give students core curriculum textbooks for free by using OpenStax
Feasible: Maybe
Why: On the OpenStax side, many other universities offer OpenStax textbooks for their common core classes, so that would be possible. But Dani Nicholson, association director of marketing and communications for OpenStax, said it would be up to the professors to decide if they want to use the books or not. The slate said they did reach out to Common Core professors, but the professors did not want their names to be used.
Point: Make sure students feel safe on campus with a student security program with UPD
Feasible: Maybe
Why: University Police Department Chief Jim Duckham said he was interested in learning more about the point, but it’s an interesting concept that has merit. As a department, they would want to research the details and look into if other universities are doing it, and how. The slate did meet with Duckham to discuss this point.
Point: Give students an opportunity to voice their opinions about diversity on campus, Ted Talks style
Feasible: Yes
Why: Bobby Steele, assistant director of the Multicultural Center, said the Multicultural Center already does something similar to this with its “Trending Topics” program, so it would just be a matter of working to put it together.
Point: Form a team specifically to create promotional materials for student organizations
Feasible: Unknown
Why: The slate said they casually talked to a few telecommunications professors after class, but when the Daily News followed up with them, the professors said they had not heard from the slate or did not respond to emails.
Point: Work on transparency with TVs in the Atrium with club events, news and SGA updates
Feasible: Unknown
Why: The slate said they did not talk to anyone about this point, so it’s unknown if putting TVs in the Atrium would be possible. However, they also proposed putting the news and updates on the Student Center TVs that are already there, so that would be possible. Jim Lowe, associate vice president for facilities, planning and management, did not respond for comment.
Point: Continue previous initiatives
Feasible: Probably
Why: The slate said they want to continue to get more drinking fountains around campus, keep the Scheumann Shuttle going and work with Muncie to continue to get rid of potholes. Richu Aby, current SGA vice president, said Atlas would just have to help with transition material, which can be done. However, she said no one from the slate has approached them.
Raymond Garcia, Casey Smith, Victor Hamilton, Michelle Kaufman and Tyler Walker contributed to this story.
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