UCAB board members address students’ questions
By Nicholas Bainbridge// News Editor
On Mar. 21, the Student Government Association held a special meeting where they were joined by the University Community Affairs Board, a group of notable staff members responsible for assessing life at HPU and what changes can be made to improve it. The purpose of their presence was to offer representatives of the HPU student body to ask questions about the decisions made by the board and offer input into how campus life can be improved.
The Committee is made up of five different members, Dr. Dennis Carroll; the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Gail Tuttle; the Vice President for Student Life, Roger Clodfelter; the Senior Vice President of Communications, Steve Potter; the Vice President for Auxiliary Operations, and Kevin Summers; the Director of Hospitality. The SGA senators had questions for them about a multitude of topics, both tied to the specific organization they represented as well as the general population of High Point University students.
High Point University hires several adjunct professors, and senators expressed interest in how those that remain for several years or even become tenured are selected. Dr. Dennis Carroll was willing to explain what criteria are used for such decisions.
“It is based on the need of the University and if that person can fit into our culture,”
revealed Dr. Carroll. “We also look at how our students respond to them.”
The purpose of the Starfish system was brought up, as the committee was questioned why they could have alerts sent about them between staff. Gail Tuttle had a clear explanation for this.
“We are thoroughly invested in your education,” she explained. “It allows us to give necessary support to students even when they are afraid to ask for it.”
Some students expressed that they believed there was an issue with High Point University’s sound system, as they have heard birds chirping at odd hours with alarming frequency. This was met with a statement form the board that the bird sounds were in fact genuine, and not the product of an artificial system. When they heard this, the senators erupted into a fit of laughter.
The lack of convenient parking spaces is a plight for many students, and the committee was challenged about the elimination and restriction of popular parking locations. Steve Potter responded to these criticisms with the university’s reasoning and alternative solutions for students.
“We made the decision to limit parking to the periphery for safety concerns,” Steve Potter told the senators. “We will be adding additional spots in different locations, but we really want this to be a pedestrian friendly campus.”
Steve Potter also revealed his plans for busses to take students from the nearby mall to High Point University campus so they will not have to find a parking spot on campus.
A subject of great concern for many upperclassmen is a recent change to class registration policy. Upperclassmen have their access to 1000 level classes restricted and need to get special permission in order to take these courses. Complaints about this controversial change to the system were addressed by Dennis Carroll, who revealed that there had been issues with upperclassmen filling up too many of the slots in freshman level courses.
“We are trying to save enough space for our incoming freshmen in our freshman level classes, as our seniors can take higher level courses.” Dr. Carroll explained. “We can make exceptions for students who need to fulfill general education or major requirements, we are just trying to ensure that our incoming freshmen have access to enough courses.”
Third and fourthwill need to get formal approval to take 1000 level courses.
from left to right, Dennis Carroll, Kevin Summers, Gail Tuttle Steve Potter and Roger Clodfelter. Photo by Nicholas Bainbridge.