Student leadership meeting held
with board of trustees

Student Association addresses concerns for next year

By Kurstin Reuschel, Staff Writer

The Board of Trustees met with Student Association representatives to discuss their concerns and ideas for St. Michael’s on Friday, April 13.

Senior Michael DeGrandpre said these meetings are held to discuss the “big business” of the school. The board meets with different groups, including student leadership. Here, student leaders voice concerns for the student body as well as their own proposals for what they hope to do in the future.

Vice President-elect Mallory Wood and Secretary of Student Policy Tyler Adkins presented their work on the CCTA bus survey. In March, Wood sent out a survey to students asking if they would want free bus transportation. Currently, Champlain College and UVM students have this privilege, Wood said.

“500 students responded to the survey, which was excellent,” she said.

It was found that many of the students who took the survey use the CCTA bus system, mostly for going

to Church Street or the downtown area, Wood said. The survey also showed that most of these students were interested in the idea of free busing.

Three-fourths of the student body sampled supported an increase in tuition between $5 and $50 to have free busing offered. That is not saying that a tuition increase will happen, but it showed that students are willing to pay to have free busing, she said.

The student leadership meeting is just a listening session, so no decisions are made, Wood said.

“They were very encouraging and impressed that we took the steps we had taken,” she said.

The meeting also focused on student concerns. According to Alex Monahan, S.A. President-elect, some of the big concerns of students were the housing crunch and more activities offered for students. The trustees were excited to hear from students and wanted to hear the ideas S.A. has as well as the rest of the student body, he said.

“One of the trustees said that the concerns of the students are very similar to the concerns of the trustees, which was good to hear,” Wood said.

Not all residential halls are alike on campus, which poses concern. Students in living in Founders aren’t necessarily as happy as those who live in the suites, while both are paying the same tuition, Monahan said. A possible solution to the problem is letting students have the opportunity to live off campus. The trustees are a bit hesitant because one of the reasons students are attracted to the school is the fact that St. Michael’s is a residential college. They want to keep it as residential as possible, he said.

There are some ideas in the air about a new suite building and possible kitchens in the 400s, he said.

Monahan is looking to possibly renovate some of the old buildings on North Campus that aren’t currently in use. This includes the post office, the chapel, the firehouse and the theater. The main setback to the ideas proposed to the board is funding. The budget is tight and things are expensive, Monahan said.

Contact Kurstin Reuschel at kreuschel@smcvt.edu