Students care most about improvements to computing facilities, academic advising and large events sponsored by the student government, a new USG priorities survey found.
Last night's USG meeting was a planning meeting to look at the results of the survey and brainstorm potential projects.
"Not so much our administration, but over time, the USG has become a body that worked on what it wanted instead of what the student body cared about," USG president Rob Biederman '08 said. "The purpose of this survey was to get a better idea of what the student body's priorities are."
The survey found that "computer-related" problems were the highest priority for campus life improvements. Almost 60 percent of respondents voted for improving technological resources and facilities.
Members of the USG information technology committee met with OIT this week to discuss possible improvements.
Proposed ideas include an application on Point that would allow student to check the status of printers in computer clusters to see which are working and which are not, switching from Webmail to Gmail for University email and expanding email quotas.
"We're trying to [get] ... the USG and OIT to work together," USG vice president Josh Weinstein '09 said.
The campus life question of the survey also indicated that 55.7 percent of survey respondents said they care most about "recreational facilities." U-Councilor Liz Rosen '10 and Class of 2010 senator Ben Lund are leading an initiative to work on improvements to the University's exercise facilities.
"Clearly we recognized that Dillon Gym needs short-term improvements and longterm modifications," Biederman said.
Lund also proposed establishing "satellite" gyms with small amounts of equipment in each of the residential colleges, a suggestion that raised concerns about the University being exposed to problems with liability and supervision.
The second question of the survey related to academic priorities. The three choices "PDF policy reform," "Written comments from preceptors and professors at midterms" and "academic advising reforms and improvements" all generated fairly similar responses, with academic advising getting the most by a mere 1 percent.
The third survey question indicated that 72.4 percent of respondents prefer more large social events over "frequent smaller events." Biederman said that "more large events isn't something that's financially possible, so we'll work on making better large events."
USG social chair Christian Husby '08 recently convened a committee of about 20 members to coordinate USG social events. One of the committee's goals is to make people more aware of how performers are selected, with information about the process posted on the USG website.
"[The committee] is making the process more apparent and more open," Husby said. "People aren't aware of how it works."
The USG senators each discussed their "pet projects," which ranged from a push to make 24-hour study spaces available and buses for Thanksgiving transportation to a hot chocolate giveaway during the first snowfall and debates over birth control prices.
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