Culver-Stockton College’s Student Government Association (SGA) hosted a town hall meeting on Nov. 18th. During this meeting, several department heads and the college’s President, Dr. Lauren Schellenberger, attended to answer students’ questions and concerns. Other faculty members included Pat Atwell (Director of Athletics), Dr. Mike Seale (Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs), Julie Straus (Professor of Accounting), and Dr. Angela Royal (Vice President for Student Experience). Town Hall meetings are hosted annually to help address students’ concerns about the school. The floor is open to them to discuss anything from food in the dining hall to issues regarding academic concerns.
Many students have strong opinions about different aspects of campus. SGA President Caleb Gardner expressed his goals for the town hall meetings is “to make sure student concerns were clearly communicated and taken seriously by the administration. I wanted the space to be more than just a listening session. I wanted it to be a productive conversation where students felt heard and where SGA could help translate those concerns into actionable next steps.”
A popular topic of discussion has been parking. One student took this opportunity to ask the school leaders about parking. President Schellenberger and Dr. Royal addressed this issue by informing students that there is a lot that goes into adding more parking or even constructing a parking garage. To add more parking, the land needs to be zoned correctly, get the proper permits, and another big issue is picking the proper land since the college is on a hill.
Another topic discussed was food quality and options on campus. Dr. Royal highlighted the Executive Chef, Bryan Archer, who was recently hired. One thing that stood out to them about this new chef is his wants to make restaurant-style food in the dining hall. The school hopes that with this new chef the level of food will improve to satisfy students’ nutritional needs, considering the large student-athlete population on campus.
“I was not surprised by any of the questions or concerns–I think the students who attended brought up many of the items that the Senior Leadership Group is already aware of and works on regularly,” expressed President Schellenberger.
President Schellenberger, along with the rest of the Senior Leadership Group utilize the town hall meeting as a way to get student feedback about the school and what they can improve. Another thing that they want more insight into is how to improve residence halls, more specifically, with common areas. “The Town Hall helped reinforce that the residential and dining experience is a high priority for our next fundraising campaign,” shared President Schellenberger.
The students who attended the event expressed that they wanted more clarification from the administration, not only on the decisions they were making, but also on the reasons behind the decisions being made. Although there was good conversation being made during the town hall meeting, there are times when students feel that nothing is being done about their concerns. “SGA is currently working on ways to provide students with updates moving forward. Whether through meetings, campus-wide communication, or collaboration with administration, the goal is to keep students informed on what progress is being made and where conversations are continuing,” explained Gardner.
The discussion seemed to bring insight to the leaders of the campus about other issues that students would like to see improved around campus. If anyone would like to reach out about concerns on campus, you can contact anyone on SGA, including SGA President Caleb Gardner at cmg697@culver.edu.
