“What I understand everyone’s goal to be is to utilize Union to increase student engagement and to increase Student Union’s dominance as a tool for student leaders to effect change,” said Student Union President Howard Male at the first Union senate meeting of the semester.
Union members weighed Monday night on how to increase awareness about Union and engage Boston University students more in issues, such as the issue of gender-neutral housing.
One proposed budget fund was increased from $500 to $750 for Union publicity efforts, among other expenses.
Union members also voted on budgets for BU apparel, SMG events, outreach efforts and other committees.
Union members not only voted on finance reports and making announcements, but also explored several ways in which Union could get student opinion on a number of issues.
Male, a School of Management and School of Hospitality senior, said while Union has upheld the tradition of subsidizing BU apparel for Union members and students interested in purchasing it, members are also considering new design ideas.
Outreach Committee Chair Alyssa Sarkis, a School of Education sophomore, suggested giving students incentives to complete the gender-neutral housing survey. Sarkis said while students should respond to a survey about the housing issue nonetheless, they might respond more to opportunities to win gift cards and Celtics tickets.
SMG sophomore Chair Caitlin Steele, chair of the sub-committee on gender-neutral housing, said members are focusing on training resident assistants, structuring requests and implementing these changes in a set of stages that will be available to upper classmen.
Sarkis told Union members to take the survey, which as been publicized through a Facebook event.
Sarkis said the survey, which went live Friday night at 11 p.m., has received nearly 500 student responses.
“It’s something that impacts the future of our school,” she said “The one thing that has pushed me to work so hard on this is because as Student Union it’s important for us to improve student life on campus for all students.”
James Boggie, a College of Arts and Sciences senior, said when he started working with Union three years ago, the body was different. At that time, he said, Union had just begun addressing gender-neutral housing.
“This is the first year we are getting things done,” Boggie said.
The committee aims to increase incentive for students to weigh in on other Union initiatives in addition to the gender-neutral housing survey, Sarkis said.
The Public Relations team suggested increasing awareness by distributing a newsletter in BU dining halls that would include information about Union events and dining, as well as ad space given to student groups.
“When people are excited, they need to get the information when they are affected,” Boggie said. “We need to reorganize Union archives so we have information at our fingertips so we can build on our work at any time.”
An additional topic Union discussed was the proposal to change the election timeline to make the term start in January instead of May.
Union has turned into an organization that is about empowering students, Male said. Union e-board public office hours will be a time for Union members and senators to meet with them, as well as a time for students to ask questions and voice concerns.
Male discussed how to increase student engagement through the director of social affairs working actively with student groups to recognize synergies for student groups to collaborate.
“In terms of our vision for the spring semester, we want to best assist you by increasing transparency, based on feedback from last semester,” Male said. “We want to be transparent with each other and with the student body.”
“Your time at Boston University is meant for you to explore new things, learn new things,” Male said. “And if I can encourage students to find something they are passionate about that impacts the community in a positive way, then that impact lasts much longer than this semester, [and it] will last into the real world, long after we’ve left Boston University.”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
Just an FYI, the link to the Gender Neutral Housing Survey can be accessed at bit.ly/GNHsurvey