A Students’ Association-run forum on Wednesday offered the student body an opportunity to raise concerns and questions concerning the UR Bookstore, Dining Services, Facilities, University Parking Office and UR Security. The forum’s organizers – SA President Matt Goldblatt and SA Vice-President Katherine DelBalso – both felt that the panel was a worthy and constructive step toward increasing communication between the university and the student body.
“This event was an outstanding precedent for the student body to express shared concerns to the university,” DelBalso said. Goldblatt and DelBalso also echoed the utility of Wednesday’s discussion and the possibility for future communications. “The event went really well,” Goldblatt said. “The questions had a lot of weight. The responses were honest. The participants were very candid.”
Goldblatt and DelBalso plan to increase communication with the student body and raised the issue of possibly holding another forum to discuss similar broad-based concerns.
“We will be attending the parking committee,” Goldblatt said. “We are also in contact with Students’ Association Project and Services Chair Hannah Geswein.She will make sure that these issues are brought to the attention of the various committees.”
While most agreed that the event went well, some students felt that their questions could have been more adequately answered. “I feel the people that need to answer were not present, like [Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance] Ron Paprocki,” Speaker of the SA Senate and senior David Ladon said. “We need to be open and honest to improve the system. I don’t want to talk about the problems. We need to work on the solutions.”
Substantial issues were presented by students to each representative. The forum began with Goldblatt addressing Assistant Director of Facilities Operations Rick Magere regarding the poor plowing and snow removal near Graduate Living Center. “There was a miscommunication,” Magere said. “It did slide under the radar.”
Students also raised concerns regarding parking during peak move-in times as well as the price of parking meters.
Director of Parking Services Glen Sicard reminded students that Parking Services holds the Parking Advisory Committee Meeting on the third Wednesday of every month in Wilson Commons 121 at 1:30 p.m.
Supervisor of River Campus Parking Operations Nancy Dailey emphasized parking services overall willingness to work with students rather than acting as a punitive body.
“If you give us a call and say, ‘I’m gonna be here 15 minutes,’ we will try to help you out,” Dailey said in reference to the need to find alternative parking during move-in times.
All of the panelists encouraged the student body to express concerns and ask questions. “You, as a student, need to continue to ask the questions you are asking to make sure you are getting a value,” Magere said.
Although attendance was scarce, Goldblatt and DelBalso hope that this event will encourage further campus-wide dialogue.
“The campus is not used to having a forum to meet directly with officials,” Goldblatt said. He continued that the timing of the panel near midterms may have hindered attendance. DelBalso agreed:,”For the rest of the semester, there will be a new PR campaign to inform students more about campus services,” she said.Tanner can be reached at rtanner@campustimes.org.
