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CAMPUS 2-6
AErE 1-8
SLIPSTICK 9-11

Food Advisory Board re-established to shape the future of on-campus dining

Soren Spicknall
CO PY E DITOR

In recent years, a body composed
of students, Illinois Tech Dining Services
staff, and university administration have met
twice a month to discuss major decisions
involving Sodexo’s dining facilities on
campus Including ofiicial representatives of
the Student Government Association (SGA),
Residence Hall Association (RHA), Ofiice of
Campus Life (OCL), and Residence and Greek
Life (RGL), Illinois Tech’s Food Advisory
Board (FAB) has been responsible for many
of the changes to dining in its lifetime The

introduction of the popular meal exchange
program, expansion of vegetarian and vegan
options, and establishment of an ice cream
bar in the Commons have all stemmed from
conversations in Food Advisory Board, and
it continues to be one of the most direct ways
for students to offer regular input to Dining
Services

Last year, FAB was primarily headed
by Ricky Stevenson, who stepped down
from those duties after obtaining an time,
consuming internship opportunity The group
was briefly taken over by Jay Morris, the SGA
senator representing RHA, in an attempt to
bring the group under the purview of both
organizations, but stagnated for a month or so

following Morris’s death in spring At the end
of the 201572016 academic year, the group was
headed by John Munoz, a member of SGA’s
Student Life Committeel

Since then, FAB has been largely
stagnant as SGA and RHA worked to
determine which of the two organizations had
the power to reform itl Various university
administrators had spoken about committing
to contradictory doctrines of responsibility
for the group, and with John Munoz leaving
his position as a senator, it wasn’t clear when
FAB would begin to meet once again Finally,
though, it has been conjured into existence
once again under SGA, and led by Munoz
just as at the end of the last semester Its first

meeting in scheduled for Friday, October 28 at
4 pm in the Pritzker Clubl

While SGA, RHA, OCL, and RGL
maintain ofiicial membership in FAB, all
students are technically welcome at the group’s
meetings Last year, a few active student leaders
made regular appearances, most consistent
among them being Adrian Duefias, Jr, who
was a volunteer in two of SGA’s committees at
the time Those participants have an equal seat
at the table of discussion, and their concerns
and input help form policies, options, and
programs enacted by Illinois Tech Dining
Services

2016 Students Speak survey now open, covering new departments

The Center for Research and Service

With the approval of the President
and Provost, your fellow Illinois Tech students
are once again looking for your input in
discovering how we can improve the quality
of student’s experiences with various service
areas and departments here at Illinois Tech
The Students Speak program aligns with the
President’s and Provost’s commitment to
advancing student satisfaction and the quality
of services provided to students

The project is headed by a committee
of students, who are tasked with identifying
how the university’s services can make your
lives as Illinois Tech students betterl Their
focus is on you , their fellow students and they
want to understand what your needs, concerns,
and ideas are surrounding the university
The committee is made up of a diverse
team of individuals that come from many
different backgrounds, ranging from SGA,
the Leadership Academy, the ChicagoeKent
College of Law, Camras Scholars, the Greek
community, graduate student organizations,
and more They are committed to helping
the administration establish benchmarks of

An inside look:

 

performance for student services, identify
priorities for improvement, create action
plans for change, map progress, and instill
accountability for those changes

Having identified areas within
the university services that are important to
students and have not been surveyed in at
least two years, the survey has been developed
to focus on each of those key areas and the
committee asks that students provide feedback
so that they can gauge what the university is
doing right, what needs improvement, etc
The committee will present the results from
the Students Speak survey to the President and
Provost in January and will also give feedback
to the departments and service areas included
on the survey Student committee members
also submit specific recommendations on how
administrators can make the necessary changes
needed to increase student satisfaction with
their ofiices’ services These recommendations
will stem from the survey findings collected
and from additional input from members of
various student organizations

The Students Speak committee is
supportedbyDrl George Langlois,the Executive
Director for the Center of Research and Service
(part of the Lewis College of Human Sciences)

Story and morephotos on Page 8

 

and the Illinois Tech Leadership Academy
For those that do not know him, Drl Langlois
is an Industrial / Organizational psychologist
whose ofiice also conducts the annual faculty
survey and provides consultation to numerous
high profile clients outside of Illinois Techl
His knowledge and expertise in survey design
and analysis serves as a valuable asset to the
committee The Students Speak project is
especially important to Dr Langlois, as he
received his PhD here at Illinois Tech and the
project allows him and his ofiice to give back
to the university by helping to make students’
experiences here the best that it can bet

The committee has the manpower,
the determination, and the contacts, but they
need one more crucial piece in order for this
survey to make a difference , YOUl They
need as many students as possible to provide
feedback on the various student services in
order for to really gauge what has been working
well for students and what needs improvement
Traditionally, the number of student responses
has been close to half the total student body
and the goal this year is to get an even larger
proportion of students to participate A couple
minutes of your time is all it takes to help drive
positive change by ensuring that your voice

a weekendat Open House

is heard when the committee presents their
findings to the President and Provostl

As an added incentive for
participating in the survey, there will also be
a raffle drawing that any participating students
will be entered in, where they will have the
chance to win one of several assortment of
prizes including: $20 gift cards, Illinois Tech
apparel, and Illinois Tech coffee mugs and
thermos cupsl This is your chance to influence
positive change for all Illinois Tech students and
to have your opinions heard by the university’s
leadership and senior administrators Again,
the Students Speak Survey is focused on you,
the student and this is your chance to help
make a positive, lasting impact for current and
future Illinois Tech students!

The survey goes live October 24th
and continues through November 7th All
students will be sent an email with a link to the
survey, but in case you miss it, you can simply
go to (http://wwwiitledu/studentsispeak) and
complete the survey there once it goes live,
or stop by the kiosk that will be set up on the
bridge in MTCC during lunch hour Take the
survey and let your voice be heard , it only
takes a few minutes of your time to make a
difference at Illinois Techl

Chicago
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Photos by Steven Milan Moreno