Letter to the editor: Student advocacy should be the main priority for new chancellor
Issue date: 1/27/10 Section: Letters to the Editor
There is a search for a new chancellor. I hope we're looking for someone who wants student advocacy to be a big part of the job description.
There is no doubt that any university's chancellor has limitless responsibilities. One of which is to be an advocate for the students. I am worried that this part of the job description is taking a back seat here at UMD. I've been here less than two years, but that's long enough to be disappointed by the current chancellor's student advocacy efforts.
I've spent much of that time fighting a smoking policy, which was created against student advisement. But hey, at least we got to call ourselves the first public college to go smoke-free. Unfortunately, the university refused to sanction it, putting the responsibility of "peer enforcement" in the hands of students. This accomplishes nothing other than the admonishment of those attempting to enforce the policy. Calling a campus smoke-free looks good on metal signs, but that's about all it has accomplished. After a year of fighting Student Association, the official voice of the student body, our chancellor has finally agreed to look into enforcing this policy. So that's a start.
We have a new alcohol policy on campus, which is hoping to bring down the number of complaints the community has about "intrusive college students." But it won't. Instead of looking into ways of further bridging the obvious gap between students and the community, the students get to go to a review board that has the power to expel a student after getting two minors during their entire enrollment period at UMD. How is this being an advocate for the students?
But it's not just all about policies involving the students at UMD. It's about how the staff and faculty of a university affect its students' educations. Last year, the executive committee of Student Association was admonished by our chancellor for making efforts to save the job of a beloved faculty member, who could potentially have been wrongfully terminated. A year later, an administrator is being admonished by our chancellor for making efforts to terminate a personal trainer who has taken sexual advantage of our fellow students. It seems like personal friendships are standing in the way of student rights.
My point is not to call out all the administrative decisions the chancellor has made that I disagree with. It's to bring up some examples of how important it is that our university's chancellor is an advocate for the students. These decisions are probably made differently with student advocacy in mind. That is why the chancellor search is so important.
However, I find myself worried that the student voice may be drowned out in this search. Only one student is on the chancellor search committee, a student who is graduating at the end of this semester. It's not that I do not trust our president to fight for the student voice, it's that I'm worried he's outnumbered. Students should be playing just as big of a role in this search as staff and faculty. It's really the only way to guarantee our new chancellor is one that will work with us.
-Jonaton Mitchell
There is no doubt that any university's chancellor has limitless responsibilities. One of which is to be an advocate for the students. I am worried that this part of the job description is taking a back seat here at UMD. I've been here less than two years, but that's long enough to be disappointed by the current chancellor's student advocacy efforts.
I've spent much of that time fighting a smoking policy, which was created against student advisement. But hey, at least we got to call ourselves the first public college to go smoke-free. Unfortunately, the university refused to sanction it, putting the responsibility of "peer enforcement" in the hands of students. This accomplishes nothing other than the admonishment of those attempting to enforce the policy. Calling a campus smoke-free looks good on metal signs, but that's about all it has accomplished. After a year of fighting Student Association, the official voice of the student body, our chancellor has finally agreed to look into enforcing this policy. So that's a start.
We have a new alcohol policy on campus, which is hoping to bring down the number of complaints the community has about "intrusive college students." But it won't. Instead of looking into ways of further bridging the obvious gap between students and the community, the students get to go to a review board that has the power to expel a student after getting two minors during their entire enrollment period at UMD. How is this being an advocate for the students?
But it's not just all about policies involving the students at UMD. It's about how the staff and faculty of a university affect its students' educations. Last year, the executive committee of Student Association was admonished by our chancellor for making efforts to save the job of a beloved faculty member, who could potentially have been wrongfully terminated. A year later, an administrator is being admonished by our chancellor for making efforts to terminate a personal trainer who has taken sexual advantage of our fellow students. It seems like personal friendships are standing in the way of student rights.
My point is not to call out all the administrative decisions the chancellor has made that I disagree with. It's to bring up some examples of how important it is that our university's chancellor is an advocate for the students. These decisions are probably made differently with student advocacy in mind. That is why the chancellor search is so important.
However, I find myself worried that the student voice may be drowned out in this search. Only one student is on the chancellor search committee, a student who is graduating at the end of this semester. It's not that I do not trust our president to fight for the student voice, it's that I'm worried he's outnumbered. Students should be playing just as big of a role in this search as staff and faculty. It's really the only way to guarantee our new chancellor is one that will work with us.
-Jonaton Mitchell
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
J G
posted 1/27/10 @ 1:45 PM CST
I definitely agree with this letter. While I have been at UMD, it has been too often that I have had to deal with unprofessional and uninformed faculty. (Continued…)
annoynomus
posted 1/27/10 @ 6:34 PM CST
I am very confused by your intentions with this letter. You are dead set on the new chancellor being a HUGE student advocate when that is truly not what a Chancellor of a University is for. (Continued…)
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