Student Union members are hailing as a success the program implemented in January that assigns each Washington University student to a senator, who directly advocates on their behalf. Reflecting on the program’s first months, several senators asserted that the program had helped bring many new student concerns to light.
“We wanted to increase visibility and make ourselves more accountable, and in that regard it has been a great success,” said Senate Speaker Marc Bridge, a senior.
Bridge explained that many of the issues that had been brought up in Senate discussion were the direct result of students’ contact with their assigned senators. A recent reworking of shuttle schedules and routes, for instance, was prompted by complaints by off-campus students. Shuttle schedules were revised to allow late-night transportation from campus to surrounding housing. In another case, students taking ROTC classes opened discussion about whether such classes should receive academic credit.
Concern that such issues might go unrepresented was the impetus for the program’s creation. Without clear lines of communication between students and their Student Union representatives, senators feared some concerns might go unrepresented, particularly those relevant to specific groups of students.
“We can only pursue the issues that we know exist,” said Bridge.
Freshman senator Greg Finkelstein, who sponsored the legislation to enact the program, feels that the individual connection between students and senators has facilitated communication in the past few months.
“We’ve gotten a lot of really good feedback,” said Finkelstein. “It’s gone well so far.”
Finkelstein expressed hope that the program will continue to expand and be sustained in the future. He sees the potential for it to continue to aid communication in coming years.
“I think it’ll make for a more efficient, effective, and in-touch Senate,” Finkelstein said.
He was cautious in his optimism, though, stressing the need to actively nurture and support the program.
“One thing that could be improved upon is more advertising and visibility,” said Finkelstein. “I worry that if it is not publicized enough, it will be forgotten about.”
He hopes that incoming senators will take advantage of the communications infrastructure already in place, which includes special email accounts that senators can use for the express purpose of communicating with their constituents. Further, students can find contact information for their assigned senator through the Student Union Web page.
Senator Jeff Zove, a sophomore, agreed that allocating groups of students to senators had helped bring forward new concerns that might otherwise be overlooked. He said that he could recall several instances when senators had suggested new issues for discussion, pointing out that constituents had contacted them with particular concerns.
The current structure has also been useful for updating students on their senators’ activities, added Zove, noting that he had explained his current projects to his group of students and received feedback from them.