Senate forum reflects on Homecoming to improve next year

Senate President Katrina Hurley raised four different areas of concern at the open forum Thursday.
The first issue discussed was how to improve Homecoming for next year. A general feeling amongst the four student senators and one student in attendance was that there needs to be more options for clubs to participate in Homecoming, rather than making a certain activity mandatory.
It was brought up that some clubs could care less about the required bedsheet, and therefore don’t put in any effort. One student thought more, or different incentives for participating in any Homecoming week activities might get clubs interested and hopefully involve more students.
As there were some issues with the bedsheets this year, Hurley said it may be required for clubs to send in a sketch of their proposed bedsheet before they start working on it. A fill-in-the-bubble ballot for voting on bedsheets was another idea to make it easier for students. Hurley said the Constitutional Court will be taking care of coronation and bedsheets next year.
Another complaint was that there were too many dances during Homecoming week this year. One student thought that focusing all resources on making one big dance would result in a better turn out.
The next topic was student surveys. Sen. Teryn Blessin said there should be different variations of the professor evaluation surveys for online and on-campus students. She said some of the questions about preparedness in class are irrelevant for online students.
Sen. Mikayla Gallagher thought it worked best to have students take the surveys during class while the professor steps out, rather than emailing the link to students’ EagleMail.
The next matter discussed was Dining Services. Hurley proposed having limited options available in The Grill for students who stay on campus during breaks. She said they could offer two meals a day, but students would need to reserve the meals ahead of time. Then, if they didn’t show up to get their meal, their account would still be charged for it.
Blessin added that Eagle Leaders should be allowed to eat while they are on campus working to help with New Student Orientation.
Other complaints students brought up about Dining Services included:
-”Last week’s sorry excuse for a churro”
-No straws in the cafeteria
-Hot food options being served cold/room temperature
-Poor quality food on Sundays
-Not being able to use two meals during one dining period
-Not being able to give your meals to a friend once they are out
-Inconsistency between The Grill and C-Store in what combination of items count as a meal
The final point on the agenda was Senate incentives.
“I know the whole doing this as a civic servant is like awesome, it’s great, but like I just know you guys put so much time into this,” Hurley said to her senators in the audience.
She proposed that if there were some sort of incentive given, that senators should be evaluated by the advisers to determine the work they have done throughout the semester.
Cody Cooper brought up the idea of a meal plan waiver. If a senator quit or was impeached before the end of the semester, they would be charged for the rest of the plan.
Senate jackets was another idea that was revisited, possibly to happen yet this semester.