Speak Your Mind, Share All
By Luis Aceres
The Office of Student Life sponsored its 2nd annual campaign with hopes of opening the lines of communication between the student body and the University of Houston-Clear Lake administration.
This event, perfectly outfitted with the title “Speak Your Mind,” truly says it all. It was held March 23-27 in Atrium II of the Bayou Building, and open to all students wishing to voice their opinions regarding issues that affect them.
Questions included in this year’s campaign were: What is the one wish you hope the Student Government Association could fulfill? How do you incorporate wellness into your busy college life? What is the one message you would like to give to UHCL? What do you think the current President will do for America?
Sabiha Mahmood, student organizations and special events graduate assistant, said that the main goal of this campaign was to inform the student body that there is interest in their concerns here, interests in the student’s opinion regarding their thoughts on any programs or events that may be of interest to them.
“We wanted to let everyone know that although Student Life had to cancel some events such as the the annual Chili Cook Off, we are still here,.” Mahmood said.
It is essential to know what the student population is thinking and even more comforting to know that not only students, but faculty and staff alike, were drawn to participate.
“Students have something to say, and this was an effective method in expressing thoughts especially those who are not verbal,” Sabiha said. “There were many comments, many of them were about childcare. It shows that the majority of the student population would be interested in childcare services.”
We basically wanted to get feedback from the student body, whether that be positive or negative, regarding any issues.”
Ashley Cannon, student organizations and special events graduate assistant, thinks this event is a good idea, but feels a more effective way to invite communication is with more live discussion.
“ Personally, I liked it better last year when there was an actual podium where people could express their thoughts and ideas,” Cannon said.
The pool of questions were a mixture this year. Some of these were ones used in in the previous Speak Your Mind campaign and others were brand new questions implemented this year.
“I chose these questions to make the students think,” Mahmood said.
David Rachita, assistant dean of student life explained that the results are intended to be used internally but in no way does it mean that they will not will be used effectively.
“We will compile the results and share them with my supervisor, Darlene Biggers, associate vice president for student services,” Rachita said. “I feel that the campaign was very successful and also feel that one of the greatest outcomes was to prove that UHCL is in fact very involved. It also gave other students the chance to participate in an activity who do not have the ability to be involved in other programs.”
The Office of Student Life encourages and welcomes any students to share any comments, questions and concerns. Students can visit the Student Life office located in SSCB 1.204, call 281-283-2560 or simply e-mail studentlife@uhcl.edu.
