Six social work students realized that students did not have an informative Web site for students to voice their questions and concerns about Ball State University and its policies.
As a project for a Social Work 300 class, the students created a Web page with a list of resources and outlets for students to voice their opinions, Michelle Holbrook, senior, said.
"The project was to address a social issue on the Ball State campus," according to the Web page. "This group decided to work on improving the student voice on campus by providing a single Web page in which to direct students to an appropriate means of having their voices heard by the right people."
Included on the Web page are links to Student Government Association, The Ball State Daily News, the university's ombudsperson and the office of the dean of students.
"We thought they were good immediate contact information that may not be able to solve your problems but could lead you to the next step," Holbrook said.
Included on the site is a link to Icebreakers, a discussion board located in the Ball State Web mail that serves as forum for student communication.
"Nobody we talked to knew about it," senior Robby Ayres said. "There's only a handful of people on there in the past four years."
Working with the Ball State web coordinator, Ayres said the group was able to get Ball State's support in publishing their Web page for student reference.
"One of our big purposes was to encourage people not to be silent but to speak up," Holbrook said. "The student voice can benefit absolutely everyone. The student voice encompasses any problem you may have."
Darlene Lynch, chairperson of the Department of Social Work as well as professor for the Social Work 300 class, said that the course is a practice course to teach students how to work with a community.
"They did some nice research and then came up with a solution that would give students more voice," Lynch said.
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