Originally appeared in the 11/15/07 issue of the University Times:
Now that the semester is almost over and as Tim and I prepare for the 2nd half of our vice-president/president term, I will update you on some of the progress we’ve made addressing many of the issues we stated we would undertake in our platform. We have had an exciting semester! The true strength of SGA is the fact that everyone in the organization from the bottom up understands where we want to take our campus and is more than willing to work for that goal. Let’s go line by line on our Spring 2007 platform to talk about our results:
- New Recreational Facilities – We have negotiated to complete a dedicated rec center feasibility study next spring. The study will look at adding a new recreation center somewhere on campus, the cost, how we can pay for it and how much students pay at off-campus gyms on average. The study will shoot for a finish at the end of the summer of 2008 and we’ll look to establish a student fee increase for a rec center in Fall 2009. Likely it would take 2 years to construct the building so we are looking at approximately Fall 2011 for our new rec center! Campus Safety – We released the SGA Campus Safety report to find areas of crime that have room for improvement. (available at http://sga.uncc.edu) Now we are working with the Police and Public Safety Office at establishing solid efforts improve those identified issues. Some suggestions include video surveillance of outer parking lots to increase security.
- Football – After attending the Alumni, Faculty/Staff, and Student football forums, there was almost no opposition to the cost or consquenses of adding football. We’ll find out in February what the football feasibility committee decides. Then the Chancellor will take that recommendation and present it to the Board of Trustees who will make the final decision.
- Improved Campus Food Service – We have been exploring the local area to find a supplier of organic and high quality food. Now that we have some suppliers identified we’ll work to bridge the gap between our campus and them to offer fresh options for every student.
- Improved Advising – The new centralized advising website is up and running at www.advising.uncc.edu and SGA had a significant role in putting this together. We are excited about finally having one location for advising informatioin.
- Parking – We have explored sending shuttles off campus to nearby apartment complexes and tiered parking systems to make parking closer to the edge of campus cheaper. In the shuttle surveys administered last spring, not enough off campus students indicated that their shuttle use would justify the excess cost. With tiered parking, the cost of deck parking would skyrocket and wouldn’t guarantee a parking spot for those that paid the extra premium of a few hundred dollars.
- Niner Nation – Student turnout at basketball games has never been greater, but on top of that we have created a student organization called Niner Nation Gold which will enhance athletic events even further. One of the big things that Niner Nation Gold will undertake is a roadtrip to Clemson in January. We also established pre-game tailgating before every weekend game in the old Brocker Lot. Show up a few hours before every weekend game and bring your grill and your beer if you are 21.
- Greek Village – Tim and I sent a letter to every fraternity and sorority at the beginning of the semester to let them know that we were here to help. We are excited to attend the Greek Village open house on Friday where we dedicate the buildings as a permanent part of our campus community.
- Light-Rail on Campus - The transit tax repeal effort failed and SGA worked hard to ensure that success by working with the Vote Against Repeal campaign all semester and by holding a successful transit-tax debate on campus. In a few years, our students will have quick and easy access to uptown through our light rail station on campus.
- 24 Hour Library Access – We completed a comprehensive library survey to determine what services students would use in a 24-hour library. Once we compile those results we will make recommendations on how to implement a 24 hour library service.
- Textbook Affordability – Working with the Campus Bookstore and Business Affairs, we got a letter out to every faculty member informing them of how they can keep textbook costs down by submitting the books they’ll use next semester as early as possible. Now we are focusing on textbook buyback policies which would ensure that you could get the majority of the cost of the book back when you sold it.
- Class Availability – Expect more classes offered on a Wednesday-Friday time block so that we can stretch the class week out. This ensures that not every class is offered during the same 4 hour period on Tuesday/Thursday.
We have also addressed:
- Concerts on Campus - We’ll need to wait for the new student union and some funding, but we have identified the reasons we haven’t had concerts on campus in recent years and we’ll work to bring one here in the future.
- Technology - We have made recommendations to add Firefox on every campus computer and now we are working on implementing them. Finding an alternative to Blackboard is one of our top priorities.
- Spirit Wall - Free expression is important and we need a visual representation of student life. We have been working to establish a customizable area near the SAC/Library which would allow students to paint about events or express their artistic talent.
- Lobby Corps - We are close to establishing a student lobby corps that will ensure that local and state leaders are aware of the needs of UNC Charlotte students.
- Association of Student Governments - We have been hard at work providing leadership in reforming the UNC Association of Student Governments that every student pays $1for. Students need state level representation and ASG isn’t getting the job done.
- Campus Sustainability – We developed a method which allows student leadership to innovate the campus by developing sustainable initiatives. A new “Green fee” will provide a budget for a student led committee to enact sustainable initiatives.
Feel free to email me about any of the above or anything else at sbpres@uncc.edu. Good luck on exams and I’ll see you in the spring! Go Niners!
