ERIKETA COST
Life & Arts Editor
A new pathway of communication has been opened up between the students and the school — it’s a student cabinet.
Interim President Dennis Hefner has returned his student cabinet after it’s long hiatus, ever since he finished his past presidency and President Virginia Horvath came into office.
The cabinet is meant to represent students from all parts of campus. These areas include graduate affairs, residence halls, veterans affairs, campus media, athletics, the intercultural center and class presidents.
Dr. Cedric Howard and members of Student Affairs also attend to answer questions and discuss their involvement in the presidential search.
Besides Howard and the few SA presidents that attend on behalf of answering questions and discussing the presidential search, none of the students on the actual cabinet are involved in SA, and that was done intentionally.
“I just think elective officers are one component of the campus, but not the only one,” said Hefner. “So I thought of having some representation from other parts of the campus made sense; that’s why I did it.”
Hefner started the cabinet about 22 years ago. After he left Fredonia, Vice President Horvath came into office and decided she would meet only with SA leaders and class officers, rather than a broadly-based cabinet.
Hefner went about the student selection process by reaching out to specific organizations, and asking them to come forward with names.
The cabinet will meet about three times each semester.
“It’s an opportunity for me to bounce some ideas off of students, and it’s also an opportunity for the students to bring information forward to me,” said Hefner.
Hefner said that he often also facilitates discussion more informally by sitting at tables and talking to students in dining halls. While informal discussion like that can be helpful, the cabinet will act as a more structured, systematic group that he plans on getting to know especially well throughout the course of the year.
“This is a group that I get to know throughout the year, and by the end of the year they’ll feel comfortable bringing up issues that students want to talk about,” he said.
Corin Derby is freshman class president and cabinet member.
He said, “Because our cabinet is diverse and highly involved, we’re able to successfully convey the concerns of the administration to the various clubs that we’re involved in, and vice versa … ”
Diversity was a hot-topic for the first meeting, and Derby has been working to raise that conversation.
“Some personal concerns that I’d like to raise a discussion about are trying to create more outlets for representation of our extensive diversity at Fredonia, and I’d also like to push for better advertisement of events and club functions on campus,” he said.
Other issues discussed in the first meeting were the changes being made to improve Willy C’s, the presidential search, the out-of-state initiative that will expand recruitment next fall, campus accreditation, the decision for commencement speaker and issues involving a long wait at the counseling center.
“There is a long wait at counseling center in order to get in … the demand has gone up greatly for counseling services, up by approximately 40% over last year,” said Hefner.
Students can take comfort in knowing that changes have been made, and are currently being made to fix this.
“…one of the counselors was doing half time counseling and half time working on other projects, so we’ve moved that person back to 100% counseling,” said Hefner. “The director of counseling that was doing some additional duties transferred those elsewhere, so she can spend full-time [at counseling center].”
Hefner said there is also a contract set up with Vice President Howard, so that they can bring in an outside counselor on a part-time basis to assist.
Melissa Barnett is a graduate student representative for the cabinet and described her personal concerns:
“Personally … I would like to see more opportunities for graduate students to get to know each other on campus, since our classes meet less frequently than undergraduate classes,” she said.
“I thought the first student cabinet meeting went very well. All of the students that are members seemed very dedicated to the various issues we discussed, including diversity on campus, issues with the new ‘Willy C’s,’ as well as getting veteran students more involved in events on campus,” said Barnett.
If you have an issue or concern with the campus, keep an eye out for Hefner in the dining halls or make an appointment to stop by his office. Don’t be afraid to speak up and have your voice heard. Your concerns may just be the next area of discussion for the student cabinet.
“It’s something I’ve found very helpful for me to help me keep my finger on the pulse of the campus,” Hefner said.