Student Government Association senators for the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management and UH Law Center want to work on promoting their colleges and increasing student involvement on campus.
Architecture Sen. Aaron Grant said he wants to improve his college’s representation on campus and increase architecture student involvement in campus activities.
‘We are very secluded here in our building because we never have to leave,’ Grant said. ‘That is not right … We are all part of UH. I want us to be represented on campus, or at least have a way for us to be more involved with things going on campus.’
Grant said the College of Architecture runs smoothly, and he hasn’t received any complaints from students.
Grant wants all new renovations and construction on campus to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, minimum standards. He said the University should participate in more ‘green’ building.
‘If we are a greener campus it will help toward Tier I status,’ he said.
Grant said he does not know how he will present this idea to administration, but if the administration takes steps in line with his environmentally-friendly agenda, it will save a lot of money on electricity and increase the lifespan of its buildings, he said.
HRM Sen. John Price said he also wants to see the improved visibility of the Hilton’s college.
To achieve this, Price said students within the Hilton college to become more involved within the college – particularly with food services.
He said working with on-campus food services would be more beneficial for freshman and sophomores than going off campus to work.
Price said he’s also working to develop a college council and student organizations to promote student involvement. He wants to find out how students can benefit from being more involved on campus.
‘We are not really too unhappy in HRM, but there are some things that the students would like to see regarding the coffee shop, and the dean has been very receptive,’ Price said.
The senator said HRM students want to see printers added to the Cougar Grounds coffee shop and healthier dining options available on campus.
Law Sen. Stephen Quezada said although he wants law students to become more visible members of the campus community he understands they are busy.
As the UH Law Center’s SGA representative, Quezada said he wants to serve as a major source of University information for the busy law students.
Beyond the interests of the UH Law Center, the main issue he wants to focus on is parking.
‘The University plans to continue growing, however there is no clear comprehensive plan that has been brought to my attention with regards to how the University’s infrastructure will accommodate this growth,’ Quezada said.
Quezada said there could be better planning with campus construction projects.
‘The scheduling of constructions does not take into consideration current parking availability. For example, the building of Calhoun Lofts that removed 600 parking spots and then the building of the parking garage at the same time, taking away another 600 spots. The planning of these two projects could have been a lot better.’
Quezada said he would also like to see more transparency regarding the University’s administrative process and spending.
‘Every dollar of tuition and fees students pay should be justified,’ he said. ‘I will continue to work on these issues and push the administration to justify every fee and every increase they want, so that we can decide if the increases are truly needed.’
