After a meeting with Student Union President Zachary Coseglia, Boston University President Jon Westling said he understands the effort that went into the Union’s Guest Visitation Policy report and would study it.
Westling promised to discuss the report with colleagues and said he would respond to the proposal “as promptly as I can given my schedule.”
Both Westling and Coseglia said they thought the meeting was productive. The meeting lasted 80 minutes, according to Coseglia.
Westling said he received the joint Union-BU Free Guest Visitation Policy report late Wednesday and did not have time to look at it thoroughly before his meeting with Coseglia yesterday.
“Most of the meeting was taken up with [Coseglia] walking through the report almost page by page, which I appreciated,” Westling said.
Westling said his next step will be to study and go over the report and proposal with colleagues.
“I told [Coseglia] I would take time to look carefully at it and consider the work that had gone into it and the suggestions that were made,” Westling said, “and I would consult with my colleagues in the administration and the Office of Residence Life and the Office of Housing who are closer to the day to day operation of the student residence system and I would try to get back to him with my reactions as promptly as I can given my schedule.”
Coseglia said Westling told him he would respond to the proposal within two weeks. He also said he thought Westling was impressed by the report and would give it serious thought.
“I think he was impressed by the work we did, and I think he appreciated it,” Coseglia said. “I think he’s definitely going to give it some thought. I feel like we did our homework and now he’s going to do his.”
Coseglia said Westling did not give him any hints as to what his next action with regard to the Guest Policy would be.
“The hint was that he needed to think about it,” Coseglia said. “I don’t think he was prepared to make any decisions, and I didn’t want him to be. I’m glad he’s giving it thought.”
Westling defended the current guest policy, saying it has been effective since its inception in 1988, but he said he would look hard at the Union’s proposal.
“The reason the current guest policy exists is that the policy that existed before led to very serious abuses that put students into positions of extreme embarrassment where it was impossible for them to do their work, to study, to live with an acceptable degree of privacy and autonomy,” Westling said. “The current policy was instituted about 14 years ago and has, I think, drastically reduced the problems its predecessor showed.”
Coseglia said simply being able to meet with Westling was a victory.
“I think the fact that we have the ear of the president is a success in itself,” Coseglia said. “I think he will make an informed decision, and if it’s not the decision we want, we’ll figure things out from there.
“The committee won’t be on hiatus while the president is doing his work. We are going to continue strengthening the proposal as it stands. Phase one of the project is done. We’re ready to strategize for phase two and enact that.”
Coseglia met with Vice President and Dean of Students W. Norman Johnson, reviewing the report just before his meeting with Westling. Johnson said he gave Coseglia several pointers as to what in the report would be most influential.
“[Coseglia] gave me a rundown on the programs he wanted to change and the rationale for them. With some I agreed, with some I disagreed,” Johnson said. “I saw some areas which I thought that if he pushed them, they would work. When he brought up some points, I gave him the concerns I have and said why I believe they were put in place.”
Johnson said he was particularly interested in the emergency overnight guest pass idea, saying some of the student stories about problems with the current overnight policy were convincing.
“I wanted to get his perspective and understand where he’s coming from, to get his advice,” Coseglia said. “He helped me understand what’s good about our proposal and what parts are stronger than others.
“This is a learning process,” Coseglia continued. “We’re not selling [the report] because we want to change the Guest Policy; we’re selling it because we want to make the Guest Policy stronger.”
Johnson said he was impressed with the committee’s report.
“They did a lot of good research,” Johnson said.
Coseglia said the meeting with Johnson also helped prepare him for the meeting with Westling. Coseglia met with Johnson at 1 p.m. and Westling at 2 p.m.
“The meeting with Johnson helped me get in the mode and get talking about the proposal, and gave me the confidence to go in and talk to the big man,” Coseglia said.
Johnson said he also wanted to prepare Coseglia for the meeting with Westling.
“I wanted to arm him a little better,” Johnson said.
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