The low turnout for the Visions of Princeton survey is a disappointment, not only for the USG, but for everyone who expected USG president PJ Kim '01 to unveil his administration's goals following the survey. With only 600 completed questionnaires, it appears that Kim will not be able to make any "specific recommendations" to administrators, who are likely to disregard the survey because of its limited response. Even USG members seem hard pressed to draw conclusions about whether a unified vision emerged from the poll. Right now, it's all just a blur.
While we commend the USG's attempt to solicit student opinion online and acknowledge that outreach programs like Visions of Princeton are an important function of the USG, we hope the USG will refrain from basing its agenda solely on opinion polls. Soliciting student response is one thing — depending on it exclusively is another.
Part of the problem with Visions of Princeton was the generic nature of the survey itself. Rather than requesting student opinion on specific issues, Visions left students with the daunting task of filling out an empty box to describe what they like and dislike about the University. While the USG employed this approach to avoid limiting the scope of student input, it also failed to ensure that enough students would respond with substantive comments.
In one e-mail designed to encourage more participation in the survey, Kim wrote, "There are a lot of students who could care less about what happens to Princeton." Judging by the consistently poor student attendance at USG and U-Council meetings, Kim's statement seems to be true. But on a campus where students may lack strong activist tendencies, it is even riskier for the USG to rely on student feedback to determine a political agenda.
All is not lost, however. The USG is free to set its own agenda whenever it wants. In fact, if the USG had set a few goals or even focused on a general area of campus life prior to the Visions of Princeton survey, USG credibility would not be so tenuous among administrators and even its own constituency. Clearer visions for its own agenda would have helped shape the survey and perhaps made it less intimidating for students to fill out.
Past USG presidents have focused on improving race relations and academic life, as well as increasing student voice in matters such as the University's physical planning. Certainly the USG doesn't need a survey to discover that Princeton has room for improvement. Visions of Princeton has left us wondering what issues Kim's administration will prioritize, and forced us to ask: PJ, what are your visions of Princeton?
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