{"id":83440,"date":"2024-11-15T08:24:39","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T14:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=83440"},"modified":"2024-11-15T08:24:41","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T14:24:41","slug":"sga-hears-academic-affairs-updates-discusses-communication-with-constituents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=83440","title":{"rendered":"SGA hears Academic Affairs updates; discusses communication with constituents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By RAEGAN NEUFELD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

University Provost Jill Arensdorf spoke at the Student Government Association meeting on Thursday about the faculty mentor program, which launched this fall to keep students connected with their departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the university moved to a centralized academic advising model three years ago, students started meeting with professional advisors to enroll in classes rather than with faculty members in their departments. The faculty mentor program was initiated to keep those connections through career advice, internship opportunities and reference letters. Currently, some departments list faculty mentors on students\u2019 Workday accounts, but it is not a requirement. Students can ask their department chair or other faculty members in their department to find out who their mentor is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arensdorf said the process will be more streamlined in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe needed to kick off the mentoring program this fall, and the last thing I wanted to do was prescribe to every department how they were going to do their mentoring with students,\u201d she said. \u201c So I did not require departments to use Workday for assigning faculty mentors. I know that’s been a little confusing to students and a little bit clunky, but that’s some feedback that I’ve taken in and we’re working on that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arensdorf also emphasized that students can still go to academic advisors with career questions or to faculty mentors with schedule questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can’t go to the wrong person,\u201d she said. \u201cThese people are here to support you as students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support for students was the main intention behind the program. Arensdorf and others in Academic Affairs saw the need for students to still have a resource like a mentor in their department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudents are probably going to develop that organically, but some students may not feel comfortable doing that, or have the knowledge of who they should be going to for certain things,\u201d Arensdorf said. \u201cSo the philosophy behind it is really creating more of an intentional support system for students outside of just the academic advisor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Arensdorf also said a student\u2019s faculty mentor can change throughout their time at Fort Hays. Additionally, meetings are not required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s not a forced thing,\u201d she said. \u201cWe know we have students at Fort Hays that may never go to their faculty mentor, and that’s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year<\/a>, Arensdorf spoke to the senators about the results of a routine program review done by the Kansas Board of Regents that determined five FHSU degree programs did not meet KBOR enrollment standards. The university proposed action plans for four of those programs and a merger for the other. However, Arensdorf said on Thursday that the Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy program has been paused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe still have philosophy as a minor, we have concentrations in philosophy, just right now, we’re not admitting students into Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are allowing students that are currently in that program to finish it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arensdorf reported that all of the Philosophy faculty members are still in their positions and are teaching minor and general education courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In SGA business, senators and executive staff members discussed last week\u2019s Open Forum<\/a> and engaging with students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Noah Erichsen asked if constituents\u2019 complaints about the food in the McMindes cafeteria could be passed on to Residential Life Director RJ Schnack. President Ella Burrows said she would, but Vice President Emma Day also mentioned the QR codes posted in the cafeteria for feedback that Union Catering Company owner Phil Kuhn spoke about at the Open Forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treasurer Jackson Sinsel told the senators to encourage their constituents to come to events like the Open Forum and to voice their opinions when they have feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re just talking to (Schnack and Kuhn) all the time, they\u2019re only hearing from five of us,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to encourage you guys to have your constituents reach out, fill out that stuff and talk to them because it\u2019s a lot more important than just us always bringing it up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Elle Hutchinson reported that many students she talked to didn\u2019t know about the Open Forum. Public Relations Director Brenna Schwien said the event was advertised on the SGA social media accounts and the poster route, and asked for any other suggestions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suggestions included having the involved groups (e.g. Residential Life and Student Engagement) share the information on their social media accounts, asking Community Assistants to tell their residents and posting in the daily student announcements emails. Burrows and Day also encouraged senators to share the information on their own social media and with other organizations they are in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach one of you as a senator is representing about 150 students at any given time, so understanding that your role is important and who’s sharing things for students to hear is pretty important as a senator,\u201d Day said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next SGA meeting will be at 7 p.m. on November 21 in the Black and Gold Room. Location is subject to change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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