The Campus Conservative

(Source: "Meeting" by TLC Johnson via Flickr) In 2016, three student government members successfully lobbied the university to adopt a “tobacco free” policy. How did they do it? Rather than work independently, they persuaded student government to take up their cause. In this respect, it was not really these three members who were successful, but student government itself, with its incredible advocacy power, who helped sway the institution to adopt the policy.  So why did it work this way instead of these three members being successful outside of student government? The answer is because of the university’s commitment to a governance system called “shared governance”. As a result, three student government members leveraged student government’s massive advocacy power for their cause. They changed university policy and UT-Tyler is still tobacco-free today. This situation illustrates that student senators who wish to advocate for their constituencies successfully must leverage t...

(Kirk A. Calhoun, UT-Tyler President. Source: UT-Tyler website) UT-Tyler President Kirk Calhoun identified public perception of higher education as a challenge for the university in an interview with KVUT on May 31.  "One of the things that I believe we ought to do better in higher education is educating the public to the benefits of higher education," Calhoun said.  Radio interviewer Mike Landess asked Calhoun if there was anything UT-Tyler could be doing better. Calhoun's comments follow reports of the public's declining perception of higher education in recent years. For example, a August 2022 NPR article reported that an annual survey by non-partisan think tank New America found the share of Americans who believe higher education has a positive impact on the country fell by 14 percentage points since 2020. "Many of the report's findings have remained stable over time," NPR's author Pooja Salhotra wrote "– for example, the general consens...

(Feature Image: Via Flickr.) In my years of watching student government's work on UT-Tyler’s campus, I have seen its participants at first become excited about joining student government, but then later not really know what to do when they arrive. Therefore, over this summer’s break, I have decided that I will try to define for student government leaders what their role is exactly. Given that clarity about each student leaders' role and responsibility could lead to greater collaboration within both the student constituency and within the university at large, then I hope my upcoming essays will encourage effective collaboration within student government and its collaboration with administration. Each player in the university's overall "shared governance" model--whether student senator, faculty member or administrator--has a role to play within the governance system. When each participant can play their specialized role effectively, then the university communi...

("Money - Savings" by 401(K) - 2012 via Flickr) The UT System Board of Regents recently approved a 5.2 percent price increase for the 2023-24 academic school year at its scheduled meeting on May 3. The Board said the decision was necessary to address rising costs due to inflation. The price hikes will apply to tuition and non-academic fees and will not apply to undergraduates who live in the state. However, undergraduates from out-of-state and all graduate students will be subject to the price increase, The Board announced. Each UT System institution has the permission to decide how much of the 5.2 percent it wants to use to increase its tuition and fees, but if UT-Tyler uses any of it, then students may see higher sticker prices for education as soon as fall. Given the possible impact a price increase could have on UT-Tyler students, I went to campus to find out how students feel about the price hike. Most students were unaware of The Regents’ decision and many said they fe...

    (GPSTC classroom by Georgia Public Safety Training Center via Flickr) The Office of Academic Success will hold Student Success Seminars for all undergraduate students starting in the fall, according to Assistant Provost Dr. Colleen Swain, who spoke to student government on April 11. These weekly, college-specific seminars with the help of college faculty, advisors and career coaches will present research-based study strategies to help students succeed. The seminars topics will include, What Do Successful College Students Do?, How to Develop a “Growth Mindset” and What To Do When You Bomb a Test, Swain said.   “Some of the stuff that we learned were hacks, actually, and didn’t really help us learn,” Swain said, referring to the topics the seminar will cover. The seminar will be 14 weeks long with roughly one-third of its schedule dedicated to college-specific content. Swain said event recordings and accompanying slides will be available for review after each presentati...

(The Student Fee Advisory Committee at UT-Tyler on April 28, 2023. Source: James Hescock) At the beginning of the semester, VP Ona Tolliver, an ex-offico member of The Student Fee Advisory Committee (aka, SFAC, a committee that oversees money from student fees) told the committee that an administrator told the student services departments to request only a “flat budget” for the coming year. (This term, a “flat budget”, means a budget that is “flat” with, or contains no new spending increases from the previous year.) As a result of this instruction, the advisory committee received no real requests for greater annual funding from student service departments and it chose not to approve any either in the belief that to do so without telling all service departments about the opportunity would be unfair to all departments.  However, nearly halfway through the committee’s string of semester meetings, the committee discovered that fee account has over $700,000 dollars of student fee money ...

 (Image: "SECURITY CAMERA [DUMMY] by Hisgadget Inc via Flickr) I went to UT-Tyler on April 13 to ask students how they feel about the license plate readers that are now at every campus entrance. Here is what they said! Me: ["The UT-Tyler Police Department informed student government recently that it installed license plate readers at every campus entrance. So every time someone comes on-campus with vehicle, the reader will automatically read the license plate.  "The police said they won’t access the information readers collect unless there is an investigation of criminal activity or something like that,* but the readers still do collect when vehicles come on and off campus at every campus entrance.] "How do you feel about license plate readers at every campus entrance?" ___ Konan Guo, Graduate Student, Senior, Masters in Clinical Psychology  “Right now, I don’t have any issues with it. I could see why some people might have an issue, like if they are paranoid ...