SGA informs university of current campus issues

Following the SGA Annual Roundtable on Monday, the university may soon see changes to address some student-raised questions and concerns.

The roundtable is an informal opportunity to ask questions and share information, President Joseph C. Rallo said.

"We want to make sure people leave with whatever questions they have resolved," Rallo said.

Student senator for Accounting, Economics and Finance Joshua Bennett asked why ASU was in a situation where it could lose accreditation, what was done to address it, and if there was anything students could do to help.

"We were not on the  verge of losing accreditation," Rallo said. "[The story] was factually correct but totally inaccurate."

ASU did not come up with student learning objectives since it was written up in 2002, so it was put in a monitoring phase, Rallo said. SACS, which accredits universities, told ASU to put together a two-year plan to get off of monitoring. ASU is now on the second year, he said.

"We will basically be off monitoring, so we were never in danger of losing accreditation," Rallo said. "It's just an unfortunate headline, which, quite frankly, made my blood pressure go up while I work out [on] a regular basis."

There were several questions regarding the university police and safety on campus.

Student senator for Nursing and Rehabilitation Services Jennifer Uduje asked if it was possible for students to park in the C lot during the summer without being ticketed.

James Adams, director of Public Safety and chief of university police, said all parking regulations are valid and enforced when classes are in session, even during the summer.

Adams said he will look into the possibility of creating provisions for issuing tickets in certain situations during

the summer.

He also discussed the use of cameras in

parking lots.

Adams said cameras are not worth their money if they are not effective. One camera may cost $3,000 to $5,000, he said. Many parking lots on campus may need up to 10 cameras. Parking lots in the future may be designed for efficient camera use, he said.

Some student senators addressed the library's changes.

Student senator for Management and Marketing Chase Mitchell said some students, including himself, have had trouble completing their work because the computers at the library do not offer some programs the computers at the MCS lab offer.

Associate VP of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Douglas Fox said software comes with licensing costs. IT will try to gauge student need by survey, he said. If there is a demand for certain software, IT will respond to it.

"This time, we've been trying to really balance software that we use [and] the cost," he said.

Senator for Mathematics and Computer Science Aaron Perkins asked why the math tutor lab was moved to the library.

Interim dean of College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Paul Swets said that all the tutoring centers are centralized in the library and the traffic in the MCS lab is higher than ever.

The ASU bookstore was another topic at the roundtable discussion.

Uduje asked if ASU's bookstore could offer students the best price after she and other nursing students found a certain textbook much cheaper online than at the store.

ASU bookstore manager Margaret Box said a 25 percent markup is applied to whatever the publishers charge the bookstore.  The markup pays for all of the store's expenses, she said. The university gets a percentage of sales as well.

 "We can't go any

lower," Box said. "I wish we could, but we can't."

Senator for History and Political Science Will Boaz asked why some students could not access the CHP during the summer between semester breaks.

Director of University Recreation Bradley Petty said the new controlled entrance is the cause. The facility allows only those who are currently enrolled and paid recreation fees, he said.

Petty said the facility is already working on granting access to some online students. These students have not given access because they do not pay the recreation fee; they usually live too far from ASU to use fee-based services. Now that many classes are being made available online, Petty said he thinks there should be an option for online students to pay the fee and use the facility.

Student Body President Hector Romo asked about plans to build new laboratories.

May said, with Higher Education Assistance Funds, the university plans to first refurbish the laboratories in the Cavness building. The goal is to refurbish all biology and chemistry laboratories over the next five to six years, he said.

Uduje asked if, with enrollment growth and the growth of the nursing program, the program will get a new building.