BY RAEGAN NEUFELD<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With just one resolution on the agenda, the Student Government Association used Thursday\u2019s meeting to cover topics such as student concerns, parking and upcoming events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Ryan Stanley gave a report on the most recent Kansas Board of Regents and Students Advisory Council meeting he attended. He and the student government presidents from the other universities spoke about student rights in the classroom: freedom of speech, professor evaluations, fixed syllabuses and timely grades. According to Stanley, the Council put together a proposal for KBOR discussing each of those topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are looking to present some of those things to our provost and see what changes we can have at Fort Hays,\u201d he said. \u201cNot everything outlined in the proposal to KBOR was relevant to Fort Hays, but our administration would appreciate hearing our thoughts on them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stanley later explained during the open forum the University of Kansas has the most concern for timely grades. FHSU has an expectation that assignments be graded two weeks after the due date. The main concern for FHSU Stanley spoke the most about was professor evaluations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne thing I\u2019ve noticed is that if we fill out a professor evaluation and they get poor evaluations, that professor\u2019s still going to that same class the next semester, and it doesn\u2019t seem like those evaluations go into anything other than tenure and promotional, merit-based stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stanley encouraged the senators to give him feedback on the proposal based on their own experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parking issues on campus were also discussed during the open forum. Vice President Austin Ruff sits on the university\u2019s traffic committee and provided more information about a plan to replace parking spaces on the north side of Rarick Hall with flower beds for campus beautification purposes. Ruff said the committee\u2019s last meeting was in March, and at that point, the plan was very much in an \u201cinfancy stage.\u201d According to Ruff, his main question was if parking spaces will be added elsewhere. There was no answer at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping they\u2019ll come up with some kind of a plan by the next meeting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next meeting will either be at the end of the month or the beginning of May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several senators gave input on the issue. Changing parking passes to allow students to park in a greater number of spaces and conducting a survey to collect data on students\u2019 frustrations were among the ideas discussed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for upcoming events, SGA\u2019s Big Event is on Saturday. According to Community Relations Director Emma Day, 207 volunteers have signed up to help with a number of projects. Volunteers can expect an email from Day on Friday morning containing information about registration and when and where the projects are taking place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you show up, you\u2019ll register, get your t-shirt and then we\u2019ll send groups out to certain projects, so you\u2019ll know where to go and you\u2019ll have your project leader\u2019s name,\u201d Day said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n