On Monday, November 1st, AS&F Executive Board held an open forum for faculty only to discuss feedback, and ideas for the year.
AS&F has the greatest appreciation for the faculty who took the time out of their day to sit down with us and offer us such valuable insight and feedback. Your opinions will not go to waste; you have given us the opportunity to see where AS&F needs improvement or change, and we value your opinions. Here are some of the topics discussed within this forum:
- Current bi-weekly meeting time: The faculty stressed that although it may not be possible to move the meeting time, which is currently 5pm on bi-weekly Mondays, that it is difficult for many faculty and students to attend because of Monday night classes and obligations. An idea was brought to AS&F about the possibility of moving at least some meetings to lunch time so that more of the faculty and students are able to attend.
- Opening voting up to all ASC: The faculty discussed that AS&F should open up voting to all of ASC when passing bills. It was discussed that this may not be feasible as of yet, but researching effective and efficient methods in which this type of open voting can take place should be researched.
- Qualifications of the AS&F Executive Board: The faculty present did not believe that students serving on the executive board should be required to have prior Senate experience. It was discussed that being a part of AS&F is a great learning experience and everyone on campus, regardless of experience within Senate, should be able to run in the campus election. The faculty also believed that going to a more open election process may improve involvement and reduce the cliques that are common to student run organizations.
- AS&F can learn from other institutions: Simply put, to make sure that we are continuing to learn and grow as an organization by networking and making contact with other schools to see how they do things, and also share how we do things to open feedback.
- Commuter and ADA Student Involvement: It was discussed in the forum to possible open a commuter seat on the AS&F Government to ensure that even students who do not live on campus, or in the immediate area, as well as students who require ADA needs, are having their voices heard. In addition, the faculty spoke about offering Senator seats by majors instead of schools to ensure every department is having their unique needs voiced.
- Graduation Speaker: The faculty stressed that they believe the Graduation Class Speaker should be someone of High Academic Honors, instead of a selected graduating AS&F executive board member. The possible process that was discussed was to have all graduating students with a 4.0 apply to be the class speaker if they so choose, and to pick amongst these students. The faculty felt like this would allow students with both High Academic Honors and Campus Involvement to be the graduation class speaker.
AS&F stands for Associated Students & Faculty, and we are very appreciative for the opportunity to ensure that all included in the name, AS&F, are heard. We open the conversation to continue if anyone has further ideas, opinions, or feedback. Please just comment below, or feel free to stop by our office today! 🙂
I like your new website! Good job.
Thank you very much, President Svaldi. We would love to have you come by a meeting anytime and offer any feedback you may have.
Best,
Jeni Carter-AS&F Program Assistant & The AS&F Executive Board
I thought this was a very effective meeting and I would like to thank the Executive Committee for arranging it. I hope they will consider making a faculty forum an annual event – perhaps making it a lunch-time event vice an after-hours one.
A little feedback on the topics mentioned:
1. Current bi-weekly meeting time – I’m not sure moving the general meeting would work. Many of us build our class & work schedules around a consistent meeting time and mixing that up might be even more problematic. Another consideration might be to hold periodic forums during the day that could be attended by students and faculty. Topics could vary and the focus would be on getting feedback from interested campus community members who are unable to attend the evening meetings.
They would also provide opportunities for Senators, Representatives and Officers to speak on various topics, as well as giving campus community members the chance to see and get to know AS&F outside of a formal meeting format.
2. Opening voting up to all ASC – I’m not sure open voting on all bills is feasible. However, open polling – via electronic surveys – might be a reasonable alternative. Survey results w/comments could be relayed to Student Government members who could then make decisions on bills with more better information about what the campus community wants.
I do think an open vote on changes to the Constitution and Bylaws might be worth the effort, and could be held in tandem with general elections.
3. Qualifications of the AS&F Executive Board – I agree that prior Senate experience is not as critical as we sometimes make it out to be. If some type of training is built into the process, prior experience – in most cases – would not be necessary. I do see potential exceptions in the case of the President of AS&F and the Chief Justice. These two positions should likely require prior service as they are critical to the effective running of the organization.
4. AS&F can learn from other institutions – Agreed. We should never stop making an effort to improve our organization and community, and networking with other colleges is an effective way to do that.
5. Commuter and ADA Student Involvement – I agree that these two areas are under served by our current model and that we should explore way for AS&F to me more inclusive. I also believe that offering Senate seats by major vice schools may be a more effective structure for our organization.
6. Graduation Speaker – I like this idea and hope AS&F will explore it more fully.
Thanks again to the Executive Committee for a great forum.