For months, Team Us has been working with Ball State University administrators to develop the plans and concepts for construction of a student recreation center expansion. They all came together to bring this project before the state legislature, which approved their plans last week. It seems like a great victory for Ball State - hard work and cooperation that paid off.
However, students who will never get to use the recreation facilities might end up paying for them - something former Student Government Association President Steve Geraci and the rest of Team Us promised students they wouldn't have to do.
While the blame lies on both student and administrative shoulders, it's a shame to see that students were so misinformed regarding this project - especially since a little communication could've prevented the problem.
Geraci rallied student support for this project under the assumption that only students who would get to use the rec center would pay for it. And that student support was what helped convince legislators to pass the bill. In fact, the members of Team Us worked incredibly hard to gain student, administrator and organization support of the SGA legislation that earned the approval of the state legislature.
According to Geraci, it was made clear in several meetings with various groups of administrators that this funding issue was important to Team Us. The slate members were fully under the impression no students would pay for the rec center until they could use it. And Geraci made that promise to students based on a false sense of security given to him by administrators.
Certainly, Team Us could've been more dogged in its attempts to figure out the financial planning for the rec center, but administrators should also have been more up-front and willing to talk about the sources of funding for the project. Now, students might have to pay for their miscommunication - literally.
While some administrators regularly work hard to help students achieve their goals - especially those that benefit the entire university - there are certainly a number of administrators who do not work well with students, or even the SGA representatives who speak for the student body as a whole.
Without the overwhelming student support Geraci stirred, this rec center might not have been approved by the state, and with the lack of enthusiasm and assistance students receive from some administrators, that much student support is not likely to be garnered for future projects.
It seems silly to allow cooperation problems between students and some administrators to get in the way of progress that would benefit everyone at this university.
Those in power at Ball State need to begin talking and fully cooperating to achieve the goals they all hold in common - because students bear the burdens of their broken promises.
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