Student Council's Student Life Committee held an open forum Wednesday night in New Cabell to discuss the committee's function within the University and the role of Student Council, as well as to address questions and concerns of students.
Dan Newland, co-chair of the Student Life Committee, explained that the Student Life Committee focuses mainly on housing, dining and transportation and parking concerns of students, but also serves as an umbrella for other concerns.
Changes that have been instituted in the past by the committee include SafeRide and late-night busing, which have only been in effect for a few years, Newland said.
Peter Mathews, co-chair of the Student Life Committee, said he feels it is very important to get the word out to first years about the impact of the Student Life Committee and its ability to execute change.
"Late-night busing is especially a big thing [to discuss] because a lot of first years might think that it was something that has always been here," Mathews said.
Students in attendance brought up a variety of concerns.
Fourth-year College student Danny Jaek suggested eliminating the concept of a meal plan with a set number of meals per week and instituting a plan that only consists of plus dollars.
"I don't like the fact that I am throwing away meals at the end of the semester," Jaek said.
Newland said there are other alternatives to the pre-determined meal plans, but he is willing to work with dining services to address this problem.
Newland said the committee plans to hold a similar open forum at the beginning of next semester and a final forum at the end of the academic year.
"I really do think we need to work on connecting with the student body ... and just hearing their ideas," Mathews said.
Newland said he is very optimistic about future meetings and hopes to see an even bigger turnout.
"We're taking a lot of steps to become accessible to the student body," Newland said. "We've had some very good ideas that resulted from this meeting."
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