SGA to mix minds with constituents

MindMixer, a virtual town hall service, will soon be implemented in order to enhance the Student Government Association’s current in-person method and encourage a more active participation by UH students.

Through MindMixer, students will be able to submit their ideas on a variety of topics or issues in the UH community, give feedback on others’ ideas or second ones they support, according to the website. Then, some ideas will be taken to an open vote to identify which are most important to students. SGA Vice President Turner Harris cited his reasons for supporting this senate initiative.

“We are looking into this technology to augment our senators’ current in-person town halls, which consistently fail to meet our expectations as far as collecting actionable or valuable input,” Harris said.

Recently, Kansas State University used MindMixer to get student feedback on the University’s new campus master plan. Topics on the forum ranged from campus character and what distinguishes the University, to students’ ideas on what areas needed improvement. Kansas State yielded hundreds of ideas and participants, according to the website.

SGA intends to utilize MindMixer in the same way and gear the service toward a continued advancement of UH. The University will also have the opportunity to rename MindMixer once it is available on campus.  Some ideas include ImproveUH and BeHeardUH, Harris said.

The cost for MindMixer was included in SGA’s FY13 budget and approved during the organization’s second meeting this semester with the stipulation that the vice president must give monthly reports on MindMixer, Harris said.

Harris is optimistic that the service will help connect SGA and UH students, increasing the amount of student feedback.

“We want to use this technology to facilitate deeper engagement with UH constituents and allow them to become contributors to the UH community,” Harris said.

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