This Week In Student Government - Oct. 3

(Source: via Flickr)

Here is a recap of The Student Government Association at UT-Tyler's Oct. 3 meeting. 

Summary

This week's recap includes an hour-long Q&A with university authorities about student housing, some updates about The Foundry's future, a summary of housing complaints from student representatives and announcements that applications are open for UT System Student Regent and Texas Higher Education Board Representative. Check it out in the following recap.

Speaker’s Podium – Andrew Pettee, Dean of Students; Dr. Joe Berthiaume, Executive Director of University Communities; Samantha Thorton, Assistant Director of Housing & Residence Life.

Dean Pettee’s Portion:

Pettee began by saying he wanted to celebrate recent student-focused enhancements.

• Dr. Berthiaume led renovation of University Center spaces. Remodeled spaces with tech for meetings for student organizations to reserve. The rooms are 3104 and 3422. See coordinator Church Brown with questions.
• Dean of Students Office moved because student veteran and veteran dependent population is at nearly 700 students. (A roughly 200 student change over four years.) This student population will now have a designated veteran lounge, with kitchenette and the military veteran success center there.
• Lactation motherhood suite on University Center third floor. University did this as one of the ways to support pregnant and parenting students, he said. Said suite is state of the art.
• Timely Care App. A 24/7 virtual mental help support app that the university purchased for students. [To register, go to timelycare.com/uttyler or download the app on the apple app store or google play.]
• Training center in Student Counseling Center is now a training and development center for aspiring counselors and post-doc graduates who need a few more hours in specialization. Said these developments increase the Counseling Center’s capacity for students.
• Refreshed furniture in University Center is on the way. Said authorities want to make sure students are seeing the investment in the UC.
• Expanding the Student Accessibility and Resources Office. Office will move starting next semester, will have a larger and expanded testing center and university will hire its first Director of Student Accessibility.
• Dean Pettee pointed out that these improvements come from students paying tuition and fees. “This what you’re getting,” he said, when students pay tuition and student fees.
• The University put about $2 million into residential facilities, he said. Contract with The Foundry was the fastest way university could expand housing, because Housing heard from student government that expanded housing was important.

Dr. Joe Berthiaume, Executive Director of University Communities portion:

Dr. Berthiaume told student government that he is considering “re-envisioning the University Center.”

He introduced Samantha Thorton, Assistant Director for Housing & Residence Life. Thorton described herself as “the wizard behind the curtain” of housing assignments. She is also a UT-Tyler Alumnus from Class of 2015.

Question & Answer Time:   

Senators asked many questions in a roughly 1-hour long Q&A session that was mostly about student housing. A list of questions members asked. Readers can identify the question and scroll down to find the section. 

This SGA update continues after the Q&A section.

Questions:

1. How long will the Foundry contract last?
2. Did Foundry students have off-campus parking passes? Would that continue if you renew the contract?
3. Athletics teams had issues reserving rooms for teams. How will university change this for the next year?
4. How do students reserve spaces in UC?
5. How long will Foundry contract last?
6. Can College of Pharmacy graduate students stay on-campus?
7. Upperclassmen worry about not having housing. What other options are you looking at?
8. Has a Student Accessibility Coordinator been hired?
9. Will university police patrol off-campus properties if the university helps students find but be responsible for their own contracts?
10. Any place for housing on The Healthscience Center campus?
11. Will the University create a new housing facility in the coming years?
12. What are steps students need to take to resolve maintenance issues?
13. Any plans for more fast food options?
14. How do we pick room assignments in UPines? People who are not from East Texas are having a hard time.
15. How do room assignments work with siblings?
16. Where can we reach you if we have more questions?
17. Is there an update on temporary roommates?

1. How long with Foundry contract last? 

Beithume - One year contract with options to continue. Said he acknowledges frustrations students had with Foundry situation. Said a large contract like this takes time to go through legal processes. Said he also wished it moved faster. Contract is up for renewal in January.

2. Did Foundry students have off-campus parking passes? Would that continue if you renew the contract?

Berthiaume - Foundry students do not need parking permits because they are close to campus. They can park at Foundry for free. Also said UT-Tyler students who entered agreements with Foundry apart from University program will lay higher prices for amenities like internet and others. Lower priced package was a part of arrangement university negotiated with The Foundry. Said residential life wanted the package to be as close to on-campus housing arrangement as possible. [Said UTT has seven buildings.]

3. Athletics teams had issues reserving rooms for teams. How will university change this for the next year?

Berthiaume - I don’t know of any athletes who were not out where they wanted other than Spirit Squad. This happened because athletics department exceeded the number of beds they reserved. This was why housing was unavailable for them (in some cases). Said for this reason, housing will be in contact with them in the future.

Pettee -  It’s a good problem when athletics expands students population. I am meeting with athletics next week.

4. How do students reserve spaces in the UC?

Pettee - Patriots Engage now has room reservation capability. So, through Patriots Engage.

5. Can College of Pharmacy graduate students stay on-campus?

Berthiaume - Yes, and there is space available now for spring semester at this time. Space will depend upon numbers of applications received for spring.

Thorton- Spring housing applications open Oct. 16 and 10 a.m. Fall housing is available now. Email housing@uttyler.edu for next steps for fall housing.

6. Upperclassmen worry about not having housing. What other options are you looking at?

Berthiaume - We will continue to explore all avenues that become available to us, including The Foundry. Said they also used   backup hotel to as a temporary holding for student housing. Will also use “trio rooms” in Ornealas Hall as in the past. “We will explore all opportunities as our students have need,” he said.

Pettee asked - Would you like the university to facilitate students finding off-campus housing with another housing provider in associated with the university?

(Most senators nodded yes.)

7. Has a Student Accessibility Coordinator been hired?

Pettee - Said university is actively interviewing a director candidate. Expects hire to occur in next 30-45 days. Until then, he said students can come to him and he will be happy to help them.

8. Will university police patrol off-campus properties if the university helps students find but be responsible for their own contracts?

Berthiaume - City of Tyler Police would have jurisdiction of off-campus property. UTTPD patrols The Foundry because of university’s contract agreement.

9. Any place for housing on The Health Science Center campus?

Pettee - Challenge is to find residential space out in that area near HWY 271. Would be happy to meet with medical students who want to talk about what their needs are and try to find solutions.

The Foundry evicted about 2/3 of residents living there to make room for studrnts. “The Foundry that you see today is not The Foundry that has the [previous poor] reputation. It’s not that same Foundry,” Berthiaume said.

10. Will the University create a new housing facility in the coming years?

Berthiaume - Administration currently working on securing approval. Will take a long time given design phase, construction phase but “We are very committed to new housing,” he said.

11. What are steps students need to take to resolve maintenance issues?

Thorton- Students at The Foundry can submit maintenance requests in the App Folio app.  We’re working to ensure all students have activated their accounts.

Pettee - “If anyone is having  a maintenance issue at The Foundry or any of our facilities, we want to know….If a student is not getting a response they feel is timely, I want to know. Because we will follow up with The Foundry if there are any concerns,” he said.

12. Any plans for more fast food options?

Pettee - We will talk about this in the next few weeks on The Student Union Advisory Committee. I hope we will see some progress in the next year.  

13. How do we pick room assignments in UPines? People who are not from East Texas are having a hard time. 

Thorton: UPines manages room assignments, but on The Residence Life side, we try to have applicants answer a questionnaire that help identify a lifestyle profile that allows other applicants to match with people like who share their same habits. 

Berthiaume: If we hosted a social activity that helped you meet a potential roommate before room selection happens, how many of you would be interested? [Apparently most senators nodded yes.]

14. How do room assignments work with siblings?  

Thorton Again, it depends on timing and space availability. So we do our best with that. However, speaking as someone with five siblings, as someone who has siblings live together in housing, those are the worst roommate conflicts I have ever seen.

Berthiaume: If you let us know in advance, we are all about happy roommates. We want to do everything we can to create happy roommates.  

15. Where can we reach you if we have more questions?  

Thorton: Housing@uttyler.edu.  

Berthiaume: Our office is also in the Liberty Landing clubhouse if you want to come by and talk to us. 

Pettee: My door is open to students. Apetee@uttyler.edu or TeamDOS@uttyler.edu. 

16. Is there an update on temporary roommates?  

Thorton: We started the move on Oct. 1. We’re doing them in batches of 10 to not overwhelm housing staff. At this point, over 50 percent of trios have been “de-trioed” but they are happening on a weekly basis.

Berthiaume: We have more flexibility with female spaces, but very tight with male spaces. So de-trio-ing male spaces will take a lot more time. 

[End of Q&A]

Residence Hall Association 

Berthiaume said Housing need student government's help to get an organization called Residence Hall Association (RHA) up and running. They want to make it a voice for residential students, he said. He said they have money for it to do programs and activities and need student leadership to help give them ideas and help make it happen

[End of Speaker's Podium]

Officer Reports:  

• President Dix: Met with UT-Tyler President Calhoun. Dix encouraged members to give administration their feedback on parking and housing because it is looking for student feedback, she said.
• Vice President Carnes: My life is consumed by Midnight Breakfast.
• Secretary Henry: Working on listing senators list on SGA webpage.
• Treasurer Peters: Working on updating SGA expenditure files. Was elected Junior Representative for Honors College.
• Chief of Staff Tropp: Overlooked transition document to get to know position. Time for Rules Committee will come soon. [Reviewed how to submit an absence request form for SGA members.]

Committee Reports:

• Events Committee: Discussed plans for upcoming Midnight Breakfast.
• Communications Committee: [Asked members’ feedback on potential tshirt design for Midnight Breakfast. SGA voted to adopt one of two tshirt designs.]
• Appropriations Committee: No requests this week.
• Environmental Sustainability Committee: Said a member sent an email about items in recycling bins not getting recycled. Waiting on President Dix for follow-up. Also working on a possible event to promote glass bottle recycling. 

Student Voice Reports: 

• Liberty Landing: Met with housing advisor and discussed the basketball court possibly moving to a different location for better access to facility. Also discussed large crack in parking lot possibly piercing tires. Also residents voiced concerns about lack of security cameras, alcohol contains being left outside rooms and along the buildings. Also some dumpsters overflowing with trash. One senator looking at putting out survey to find where these issues are occurring. Also concerns about ADA compliance with room door handles and wheelchair accessibility.
• Ornealas Hall: Volleyball court time activity a disturbance to residents at night. Working on survey to find out when residents go to bed. Said a lot of people don’t know that there is a time for volleyball court use and get mad when they find out [that it’s closed, I think]. Ohall laundry being thrown out also an issue, plus parking unavailable mid-day.
• Patriot Village: [No report.]
• University Pines: Many maintenance requests for drainage systems, ice makers and refrigerators not properly restored, and outside lamp post not working. Frustration with maintenance being unresponsive or unable to address issues. Also frustration pay-to-use washers and dryers.
• Victory Village: Residents are concerned about gate safety. Gates have stayed open and a lot of tailgating.
• The Foundry: [No report.]

Old Business: [None.]

New Business: [None.]

Advisor Comments: 

Advisor Neaves said Residence Life relies on student feedback so he encouraged members’ to encourage their friends to go to them.

Good job on Communications Committee on getting tshirts done in committee and bringing it to general assembly for decision.  

Applications for UT System Student Regent and Texas Higher Education Coordinator Board Representative are open. Said his dream has been to see a student from UT-Tyler represent all Texas students. Said he regards these positions as “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” [More info here: https://www.uttyler.edu/sga/studentregentapplication.php]

Also announced road trip next week to Wichita Falls to cheer on men’s soccer team. Transportation is included and one meal. (Deadline was Friday, Oct. 6.) 

Announcements: 

-Please join an SGA committee if haven’t.
-Midnight Breakfast required event – Oct. 25
-Arbor Day required event – Oct. 14
-Trunk Or Treat – Oct. 22.

*Meeting adjourned after 1 hour 54 minutes.

Meeting video available on YouTube.   

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Feature Image: Via Flickr. (Source unknown!)