Members of Oswego State administration met with students and Student Association members on Monday for a town hall meeting to discuss the concerns of the student body.
The meeting began with an address by President Deborah Stanley, when she explained Oswego State’s commitment to hearing students’ voices and addressing student concerns on campus. Stanley listed actions the college has taken after students’ comments from previous town hall meetings.
Actions taken by the college, according to Stanley, include sensitivity training and body cameras for University Police, diversity oversight in the faculty hiring process, removal of registration and housing holds, opening Swetman Gym for student social events, exploring a downtown Oswego student lounge and increasing the communication between students and administration.
“[These meetings] have been an important piece in getting to know students and what their real concerns are,” Stanley said. “A safe forum where someone can stand up or sit in a group like this and say what’s really on their mind and what their experience has really been … is very important to us.”
Members of Oswego State administration met with students and Student Association members on Monday for a town hall meeting to discuss the concerns of the student body.
The meeting began with an address by President Deborah Stanley, when she explained Oswego State’s commitment to hearing students’ voices and addressing student concerns on campus. Stanley listed actions the college has taken after students’ comments from previous town hall meetings.
Actions taken by the college, according to Stanley, include sensitivity training and body cameras for University Police, diversity oversight in the faculty hiring process, removal of registration and housing holds, opening Swetman Gym for student social events, exploring a downtown Oswego student lounge and increasing the communication between students and administration.
“[These meetings] have been an important piece in getting to know students and what their real concerns are,” Stanley said. “A safe forum where someone can stand up or sit in a group like this and say what’s really on their mind and what their experience has really been … is very important to us.”
After Stanley’s address, campus administrators, UP representatives and other college faculty attended six round tables representing a different aspect of college life. Each table had a campus official responsible for some of the decisions made regarding that aspect. Topics included UP relations, academics, on-campus life, off-campus life and campus communications. The sixth table, labeled “Other,” went unused.
“I appreciate the way it was structured, in terms of dividing our biggest problems into those five topics and allowing us to talk to the people who are the heads of these departments,” said Donavon King, a graduate student at Oswego who attended the meeting. “What was most enlightening about it was [how] my questions [weren’t exactly] being answered, but a solution was immediately made because now I know the intricacies [of the problem].”
The work groups were done in two rounds, where students could shift to other tables between rounds. A student at each table would take notes during the discussions and would report the conversation they had to the entire town hall after each round.
The table discussing UP relations talked about ways to bring UP and students together in a casual or non-confrontational manner and build community relationships, such as a cookout during the first week of classes in fall semester or a dodgeball tournament.
The conversation on academic and classroom concerns focused on internship assistance. The table also discussed problems students face in program requirements, particularly when a needed class is irregularly offered or only offered by a single professor that may have an incompatible teaching style with some students.
Table three discussed on-campus experiences, such as challenges during summer and winter sessions where sweltering heat and bitter cold cause obstacles. Also, during those sessions, students mentioned frustration that the only dining hall open is Lakeside rather than a central dining hall that would be better for students living on the west side of campus.
On-campus concerns also included better access to kitchen facilities, allowing students to stay on campus during breaks cheaply or for free, as getting home for a week can be unrealistic, and allowing more space on campus for student organizations.
The off-campus table expressed approval for a downtown student lounge and requested the college look into food accessibility for off-campus students, like a customizable meal plan for off-campus students to get a few meals on campus every week or working with city of Oswego businesses for student discounts to help students afford food.
The final table discussed campus communication and touched on D-bus issues with Title IX and bystander intervention, ways Oswego State can improve its social media announcements and an app for club events and fitness centers. The table also had a conversation about using Google Calendar to set up events.
“When we hold events like this, it’s great to get student feedback based on what their experiences are,” said Dan Roberts, associate dean of students and interim director of Student Life. “It can confirm that what we are doing is on the right path, or more importantly, it can give us the feedback we need to improve. At the end of the day, we’re accountable for the needs of our students.”
Photo by Kassadee Paulo | The Oswegonian
