Office hours held outside for feedback

Leaders spend time with Program Board, GPSS members to talk with students

By MEREDITH COOPER
Student Senate Writer

The 86-degree heat was almost unbearable near Tommy Trojan on Wednesday, but that did not stop Student Senate from holding weekly outside office hours from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to hear students' concerns and answer their questions.
"As representatives, it is our duty to seek out student input," said Tyler Kelley, Senate president and a senior majoring in political science and international relations. "We want to be inclusive instead of exclusive."
Every Wednesday, as part of the Student Voice public relations campaign, representatives from Senate, Program Board and Graduate & Professional Student Senate volunteer to sit at a table outside with fliers, pens, stickers and key chains, ready to listen to students' concerns and ideas.
"We want to get input so we can advocate student concerns," said Barrett Reiff, executive director of Program Board and a junior majoring in accounting.
Feedback has mostly been from students commenting on events and asking how to get in touch or involved with Senate, said Adam Levine, Senate chief of staff and a senior majoring in creative writing and biomedical engineering.
"People underestimate how difficult it is to figure out what 14,000 undergraduate students want," Levine said. "We'll never have the whole answer, but we hope to get a chunk."
In addition to holding office hours, the Student Voice campaign has a web site where students can fill out polls and submit questions and ideas. Extra questions will appear on teacher evaluations to find out what students think of Senate and the programs planned during the semester.
"It's a lot easier to go to the administration with 15,000 students behind you than 15," Kelley said.
Having representatives available outside the Senate office listening to what students have to say is an idea that has received positive feedback from the USC community.
"It's a great idea so that student voices can be heard," said Daniela Hekmat, a sophomore majoring in pre-business. "Most students don't know of any alternatives for voicing their opinions, so this is great."
Representatives are glad to close the gap between student body and student government. Improving the communication between students and Senate will also make decision-making easier, Reiff said.
"This is a really good advancement as far as being able to give students what they want," Reiff said. "We see things from behind the scenes. This gives us a great amount of feedback on what we're doing and on what the normal USC student sees."
Since this program started, many students have stopped by to pick up fliers, key chains and pens, but few have asked questions or voiced concerns. But once students become more aware of the opportunity, they will, Levine said.
"The booth is a nice, convenient way for students to express their concerns," said Rob Arndt, a freshman majoring in computer engineering-computer science.
In a few weeks, Senate will send a mailer out to administrators letting them know they can use Senate to reach students, since students need to be included in their decision-making processes, Kelley said.
This is the first time Senate, Program Board and GFSS have worked together, and it has been a good decision thus far, Reiff said. Everyone takes turns doing office hours and the groups help each other out where they were separated in the past.
"We are now truly one unified student body - undergraduates and graduates," Kelley said. "People come by all day and chat - and we get a great tan."

Copyright 1999 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 138, No. 37 (Thursday, October 21, 1999), beginning on page 1 and ending on page 7.