Tuesday, january 31, 2012 I

TechNews

campus@technewsiit.com

UTSAV GANDHI

3

Students Speak promotes dialogue among university leaders

By Mike Purdy
OPINION EDITOR & DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

Blustery winter winds gainedmomentum
and snow began to accumulate steadily while
members of the Students Speak committee
hosted the 2012 Students Speak Summit inside
the MTCC auditorium

These committee members presented the
results of the campusewide Students Speak
survey, which was conducted in November, to
a large host of campus administration

Despite the frigid conditions outside,
inside the auditorium on the night of Friday,
January 20, the atmosphere was warm and
welcoming; faculty leaders appeared receptive
and intent on hearing the outcome of a survey
that is known for being a catalyst of change on
campus

To kickoff the presentation, university
president John Anderson opened with a few
preliminary remarks before handing it GIT to
Bruce Fisher, director of the Center for Research
and Service, and the Leadership Academy at
HT, who welcomed those in attendance with
much enthusiasm and introduced the team of
student presenters

The presentation team included Paola
Arce, a third year Architecture undergrad;
Jacqueline Roche, fourth year psychology; Mike
Purdy, second year Journalism of Technology,
Science, and Business; Karl Rybaltowski, a
second year Stuart School of Business student;
Jeremy Thompson, project manager for the
Center of Research and Service; and Elnaz
Moshfeghian, a fourth year computer science
major and the current student body president

The formal presentation itself was brief,
outlining the survey results and providing
the statistics and recommendations to those
departments in need of improvement being

its core objectives Purdy began the
presentation with an introduction
to the Students Speak survey, along
with a response summary and some
ofthe main headlines to be covered.

Perhaps the most significant of
these headlines is the fact that overall
student satisfaction has improved at
HT, which continues a trend from
previous years and shows promising
evidence not only that the survey
has been achieving its aim, but that
university faculty and staff have been
putting forth a solid effort toward
making students happy

lndicatedby the survey, students 3(-
feel respected by stafi, generally feel
safe on campus, and most (70%)
would recommend a friend to HT
based on their overall experience
Presenting the survey’s core items
across various departments was Karl
Rybaltowski, who is a veteran of the
Students Speak committee

These core items included such topics as
departmental timeliness, quality of services,
respect to students, and provision of accurate
information Among the most favorably rated
departments were the Oflice of Financial Aid,
the Center for Diversity and inclusion, and the
Registrar Those least favorablyratedby students
in terms of core items were Housing, the
CMC, and Public Safety, which were the three
departments in need of the most improvement
according to this year’s survey

Speaking with much experience, Elnaz
Moshfeghian followed Rybaltowski with her
presentation on the comment analysis portion
of the survey, along with the new “capital
priorities” item, in which students selected the
area that they would prefer the university make

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Image courtesy afllTStudentSpenk

capital investments

According to the results, most students
would prefer improved classrooms and labs,
followed by a new or improved athletic and
recreational facility This section proved to be a
subject of much debate and dialogue throughout
the summit, and appearedto be a hot item in the
minds of the university leaders in attendance

To finish out the presentation, Jeremy
Watson, Jacqui Roche, and Paula Arce each
provided the audience with recommendations
andfeedbackregarding those departments rated
least favorably

Watson indicated that the Students Speak
Summit was the initial step in generating
positive change on campus, but much more
must be done; student advisory groups should
be created to assist Housing, the CMC, and
Public Safety, and departments will be asked

to provide updates on implemented plans and
changes in coming TechNews issues

Roche and Arce presented the specific
recommendationsfor these three departmentsi
for Housing, facilities and maintenance
proved to be in most need of improvement,
especially concerned with response time and
transparent communication between students
and department faculty

Although the CMC has shown signs of
improvement, Arce pointed out that more
collaboration with student organizations along
with increased professional opportunities and
services for international students would result
in improved student satisfaction with this
department

Upon completion of the survey
presentation, Provost Alan Cramb facilitatedthe
question/answer portion of the Summit This
forum allowed a platform for rolling questions
and comments, and provided for open and
honest dialogue between the Students Speak
committee and university administration

The most prevalent discussion topics were
capital priorities, campus life, diversity and
cultural awareness on campus, and student
involvement The discussion went smoothly,
and the presenters, along with other significant
student contributors including Rhani Shah and
Megan Christenson, were able to generate ample
and knowledgeable responses to any concerns
the faculty appeared to have

Altogether, the 2012 Students Speak
Summit achieved its goal in producing
open dialogue amongst university leaders,
departmental staff, and invested students The
mood seemedjolly as attendees filed out ofthe
auditorium to face the snowstorm building
outside; with increased awareness and inspired
insight, the leaders of HT appear ready to make
positive and lasting change

FinancialAid Office: Submit your 2012-2013 FAFSA

By IIT Office of Financial Aid

The Oflice of Financial Aid would
like to encourage students to begin preparing
for the 201213 academic year To begin, fill
out your FAFSA! This application (accessible at
fafsaredgov) for federal student aid is available
to citizens and permanent residents

The Oflice of Financial Aidwill begin
preparing student award packages for the 20127
13 year in March Some forms of federal and
state aid are limited so the earlier you submit

your FAFSA, the better! The Department
of Education has indicated some changes
to federal aid requirements for the 201213
academic year We want to inform students of
these changes early on so students have time
to prepare and our oflice has time to properly
adjust accounts

For students selectedfor verification,
tax returns will no longer be accepted All
students selected for verification must submit
tax transcripts directly from the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) The time it takes to
request a transcript will be approximately two

CRAB Lab opens on campus

By Ciaran Shaughnessy 8:
Mariah Kuitse
TECHNEWS WRITERS

“I’ve got crabsl” is not something
that you might hear an undergraduate saying
too often, but for a growing number of HT
undergraduate researchers, this phrase is meant
quite literally

The CRAB Lab (Creative Research in
Animal Behavior), which opened last Fall, is a
studentrdirected laboratory specifically created
for unfunded undergraduates to research
in a range of fields relating to the marine
environment

The 25 by 11 foot lab in Life Sciences
Building is outfitted with two recirculating
seawater aquariums andan experimental linearr
flow tank systemiall totaling over 1,100 liters

The lab is home to 65 live European shore
(aka “green”) crabs (Carcinus maenas) and
expects to receive a giant Pacific (Northwest)
octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) in the coming
weeks

The lab was founded within HT’s
chemistry department to identify a chemical
compound from an octopus that could help
counteract the invasion of the nonenative
species of green crab in marine ecosystems of
the Pacific Northwest

But, since its initiation with one
chemistry undergraduate, the project has grown

to include two more students from biology

Since then, the CRAB Lab has begun
collaborating with a number of other academic
departments to perform additional related
studies in the lab, including the Institute of
Psychology (with three students), microbiology
(possibly two future students), and an lPRO
(specifically, three students)

If you are interested in learning more
about the CRAB Lab, you can follow the crabs,
the octopus, and the researchers on Twitter (@
HTiCrabs, @HT,Octopus, @HTiCRABLab),
view liveestreaming video (including the crab
and, soon, the octopus), read the labs blog, and
find out more about the research projects at the
CRAB Lab website: isIngcrablabI

weeks, which means a delay in how quickly we
can finish your verification

If you know you are selected after
filling out your FAFSA, request your transcript
immediately after filing your tax return
to expedite the process Additionally, for
students receiving food stamps, additional
documentation will be required so the Oflice
of Financial Aid can confirm your benefits

Watch your portal account for
specific details on what is required!

Finally, we encourage students to
look for outside scholarships for the 201213

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
    

year HT tuition tends to increase each year and
outside scholarships are a great way to help with
the increased costs

Please visit the Financial Aid website
(http://wwwiitedu/financialiaid/resources/
indexrshtml) to search for opportunities

You can also stop by our oflice and
look through our scholarship books during
business hours, Monday through Friday
8:30aImI to Sprmr

If you have any questions about the
upcoming year, please feel free to contact us at
finaid@iitedu or 31275677721?

Photos by Cinrnn Shunghnessyé’z Mnrinh Knitse