As the semester draws to a close, it is always important to reflect on the year as a whole. The 2022-2023 academic year was one filled with many ups and downs, but many of these problems could be fixed for the foreseeable future.
The typical improvement you hear about for campus is dining. Many want more options for food at just the price of a meal swipe. There are some offered at Century Café, the Sub Shop and Burgers and Fries, but more at each location — and some at Freshens — would be beneficial.
In relation to dining, others have wished there were more nourishing vegetarian options. Students feel like they have been living off broccoli for the past three years and have to buy groceries when, with being required to have a meal plan, I really should not have to. The meal swipe is also not worth enough. It does not make sense that most of the other food options outside of Reisner cost more than a swipe.
Changes should also come to the UNIV101 classes. Some feel like there is not really a set plan for any of those classes and everyone learns different things. For honors, many never even learned a lot of the things about college life that other classes did; they focused more on psychology. Some just feel like they are very all over the place and should be a little more general and helpful for students.
Other changes could include opening the library earlier. Some students wake up very early, but everything on campus is closed so there is no good spot to study or get work done. Students like to do a lot of their work in the library, but its hours are really strange, especially on weekends. The same can be said about the UPS store. It is understandable that the campus might not have workers who want to work in the library or UPS store early in the morning or on weekends; however, we just like to see more locations open more often.
In regard to leadership, students want the administration to have more communication with students. Every time there is an issue, it is not wise for the administration to refer students to the website and things like that. When students have those concerns, the administration should talk to them and be more proactive and address those said concerns.
The university, SGA and other groups need to put more emphasis on meeting students where they are and giving them the resources to know what is happening on campus and where. And students should utilize those opportunities and turn out to events.
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