{"id":85966,"date":"2025-04-11T11:40:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T16:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=85966"},"modified":"2025-04-11T11:42:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T16:42:08","slug":"sga-hosts-open-forum-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=85966","title":{"rendered":"SGA hosts Open Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By ABIGAIL SHEARER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

On Thursday, the Student Government Association hosted an Open Forum with four guest speakers, General Counsel Joe Bain, Vice President for Administration and Finance Wesley Wintch, Vice President for Student Affairs Joey Linn, and Provost Jill Arensdorf. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wintch was asked about a tuition increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dMost universities are talking about a 3-5% increase in tuition\u201d, Wintch said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said more information will be available next week and should be passed in June.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later the speakers were asked about the pressures that come with recent policies surrounding DEI. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bain said there is a lot of pressure at both state and federal levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have programs that are not segregating, separating, excluding or preferring people based on their race, ethnicity, gender, we should be in pretty good shape legally,\u201d Bain said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that because it is so unknown to look out for bills and monitor them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arensdorf said there is no consistent definition of what DEI is, which is a huge challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all use the same words and everyone\u2019s interpretation is different,\u201d she said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also explained that finding a way for both students and staff to feel included and have a sense of belonging is challenging in many ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later they discussed the university’s thoughts behind the Kansas Legislature\u2019s anti-tenure bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arensdorf said the university has consistently opposed the proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe university was not in favor of it and still is not in favor of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bain said the bill came as a surprise to the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt may come back up next year, and the best thing to do is to monitor this bill,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other topics that were discussed included the personal goals of the speakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n