Student Government Association representatives from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Science are calling on their peers to unite and get involved.
‘ ‘It is hard to bring CLASS together – it is a big group – so we are really going to work hard on doing that,’ Sen. Hillary Sotello said. ‘We are going to hear our people out like our own little click, so to speak, and come together and put our heads together to accomplish that.’
Sotello said it is important to make UH feel more like home for students.
‘The first day I came to class was the first day I came to campus. I didn’t know anything about the school, and it was kind of difficult to get a foot in the door,’ she said. ‘I want to ‘hellip; make sure that incoming students, as well as transfer students, don’t feel the way I did because I felt lost.’
Sotello said that UH needs to make its spending more transparent for students and that she wants to make textbooks tax-free by lobbying the idea with the Texas Student Association in Austin.
‘We do have to understand though that (the University budget) is like a rubber ball, and if you squeeze to tight in one place, prices will go up in a another place. We need to be realistic about that,’ she said.
Sotello said UH money should go to places where it is most useful and meets students’ needs, such as housing and dining services.
‘We don’t want students to have to go off campus and endanger themselves to go get food. We want to have everything here for them to make life more comfortable for students,’ she said.
Sotello said networking on Facebook, posting fliers in buildings and organizing small town hall meetings are methods CLASS senators can use to get students more involved.
‘We are a mouthpiece for students. We want to make sure they know who we are, and I want to make sure we are getting issues taking care of,’ Sotello said.
Sen. Veronika Evans said CLASS needs to be more unify its communication methods.
Rather than students receiving information by major, Evans said she would like to see all CLASS students receive the same comprehensive information about the college.
‘CLASS is the largest college in the University,’ she said. ‘I want to work on condensing the information and sending it out weekly,’ Evans said.’
Evans said the administration should involve the student body when hiring new deans so the students can decide if the applicant meets their needs and wants to work with the student body.
She also wants the University to continue its efforts of sustainability.
‘We are doing a great job as a University, but I would like to see more recycling options on campus,’ she said.
Sen. Taylor Kilroy said SGA can improve by establishing codes and making SGA transparent.
‘If this election demonstrated anything, it’s that there are a lot of issues with the election code,’ Kilroy said. ‘That is the first thing that I want to do – messing with the election codes, messing with the bylaws, trying to make sure there isn’t all this controversy.’
Kilroy said establishing a college council will help unify CLASS
‘As a CLASS major we represent 40 percent of the student body, but there is no unity here. If you go to Bauer (College of Business), you know who your dean is because he is in the same building,’ Kilroy said. ‘In CLASS, we are spread out through many different buildings. A college council will give students a way to know where they need to go if they have a problem.’
Sen. Juan Carlos Arreola said the University should be more aware of its students with disabilities.
‘When I was campaigning, I saw that there was a lack of support for people who are handicapped,’ Arreola said. ‘The conditions for the handicapped are bad. We need to give them a voice.’
Arreola also said more CLASS peer advising would help students graduate on time and be better informed.
Sen. Paul Savinov said students can improve campus security by taking advantage of resources available to them such as Coog Patrol.’
He said hiring more police officers is not necessarily the answer to crime, and though police are needed, students should exercise common sense and take responsibility for their own safety.
Savinov said UH should promote campus services available to its students.
‘I feel like some students are not aware of what opportunities they can take advantage of.’
He said departmental advising needs improvement because while some programs are good, some are lacking.
‘There definitely needs to be some changes in the advising systems so it can be a good program around the University, not only in selected departments,’ Savinov said.
Sen. Mary Martin could not be reached by press time.