WAY OT- Student Led Change

Submitted by beileinball on

With the student government elections underway,a new MSA President elected, and the last of the campaigning now over- there has been alot of discussion about how(if even possible) student organizations can actually implement "change" at the U. So I started looking around for these initiatives on campus throughout the week to see what my fellow students were doing.

Michigan Vision Party and MForward each had their candidates on the Diag collecting student's ideas. MVP had whiteboards and a ginormous V while MForward had black tack boards and put student ideas on multi-colored paper and stapled it on the board. Both groups had great response, and their boards seemed quite full.

Another group, Nexecon Consulting, is managing a campaign called Nex-Step- providing students a web-portal through which they can voice their ideas of how to improve the U. In their description they state that the top 10 will be compiled in a report and presented to University Administrators, and that one idea will be selected as one of their projects in the Fall.

My question to the MGoCommunity is, can students actually implement this "change". Do we have the necessary resources/connections/bureaucratic savvy to manage through the maize that is UM administration? Or are we as students not capable of achieving these things?

From your perspective, what does is essential to make ""change"" happen at UM?

buddha

March 26th, 2010 at 11:55 AM ^

god...ive been listening to this for the last week and after speaking with a few candidates, my mind is bursting. i was really hoping mgoblog would be a safe haven. but i digress...

what does student-led change even mean?!?! more recycling bins? more social justice meetings for the endangered mongoose of east timor? i'm always weary of "student led" change b/c it usually means that we are going to cater to the lowest common denominator...and that is exactly the vibe i got from many candidates...

moreover, i think plenty of "student-led" activity happens at the university already. as a grad student, i have been very surprised at how accommodating the university is for student-directed research projects, consulting efforts, etc. - both domestically and internationally. UM provides more resources and more opportunities to their students (maybe just grad...idk) then any school that my siblings or friends went to. the campus is an "incubating" environment that encourages students to take their own initiative - and, the U will probably help them out with it if the ideas are reasonable and funds are available. in the three years i have been here, i have traveled around the world twice, lived in three different countries, and had all of that fully-funded by the university. thanks to my time here, my resume is f*cking awesome and thanks to many of my UM-related projects, I was able to land an incredible job in the worst job market since 1930.

now...the standard response from some of the candidates was: "shouldn't all students have that same opportunity." - and to that, i say, absolutely not. in no way, shape, or form should all students have the same opportunity. in my mind, you have to earn those opportunities...it's not a right, it's a privilege.

those students that work their asses off, put in the hours, put in the time and energy to develop these programs, liaise with the faculty, and implement ideas into reality should absolutely have those opportunities. however, students who don't do anything, don't put in the effort, and don't get the opportunities based on merit, should NOT have the same opportunities...

"but what about students that work really hard and still can't catch a break"...tough...that's reality! sometimes you get screwed in the end and things just don't work out - particularly in this economy! but, by no means is that reason to change the entire environment of "student-led change." those students should learn from that experience, try again in the future, and hopefully it'll happen.

having said that, on the whole, i'd say UM students are pretty spoiled. we are fortunate to have some of the world's premier minds, a hell of a lot of money, and a global network of connections at our disposal...and the best part about UM is that they want their students to utilize those resources!!! i just hope your student-led change doesnt change that.

MaizeNBlue

March 26th, 2010 at 12:05 PM ^

While I agree with most of this, don't forget that a lot of Michigan's students come from relatively "poor" or "low-income" places, so it's not like everyone's been super spoiled for years and years. Most people already know what it's like to do the work you described because they did it to get here (that said if they don't keep up the dedication, then they probably don't deserve the opportunities you described).

I do agree that the constant onslaught of EQUAL RIGHTS and JUSTICE and WE MUST ALL HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES gets irritating sometimes, because everyone here already has equal opportunities, at least as far as U-M related programs/etc go.

The Original Seth

March 26th, 2010 at 1:06 PM ^

http://www.annarbor.com/news/university-of-michigan-enrollment-hits-rec…

This details the first full recruiting/enrollment cycle whose numbers have been available since the changes dictated in the 2006 ballot initiative took effect.

Though the correlation between income and race is obviously a complex issue, and one with many different factors affecting it, one of the University's recruiting initiatives has been to target what are termed 'historically underrepresented minorities,' prospective students in communities which have -- frequently due to general community poverty and the problems with public school systems that accompany it -- historically speaking not been as significant contributors to the overall student population as other communities have. As you can see, though it fell, 9 percent of the students in the incoming class hail from places identified as historically underserved or underrepresented communities.

MaizeNBlue

March 26th, 2010 at 2:08 PM ^

The point of using a vague term like "a lot of" was to avoid looking it up, which Seth conveniently did for me. I'm not arguing that there's a very large percentage of students from "poor" families here, but I'm saying that it's not like a huge part of Michigan's student body is thoroughly spoiled, either.

Seth's post about taking aim at HS seniors from underrepresented areas takes the form of the Michigan Tradition Scholarship (and others, I'm sure, but MTS is the primary one). I don't know how many MTSs they give out per class (not even sure if the U gives out that number).

buddha

March 26th, 2010 at 12:19 PM ^

yeah...you are right...and i apologize...as i was writing that diatribe, i could feel myself getting annoyed.

I absolutely love UM and one of the reasons why I chose to come here is because my grad programs are meritocracies. If you earn it, put forth the effort, you are deserving of opportunities...and effort does not depend on what background you come from IMO. Maybe certain knowledge and skill sets do, but the sweat equity does not depend on whether you are from inner-city Detroit or Grosse Pointe.

That's why I chose to pay an obscene amount of out-of-state $$$ to come here! I would hate to see the meritocracy of my programs changed for an "equal opportunity" effort. If you earn it and put in the effort, awesome - come aboard. If not, don't complain about it.

Feat of Clay

March 26th, 2010 at 1:31 PM ^

You're wrong about paragraph #1, but I am more concerned about paragraph #2 because I'm worried that isn't true.

Yeah, once you get here and work hard, doors should be open for you. But I worry sometimes that students from the lower- and lower/middle-class families don't get to have what we might think of as the full Michigan experience. Can they afford season tickets to football? Can they study abroad? Can they play a club sport? Can they afford the tux required to be in Glee Club? Could any of them head to Ft Wayne tomorrow to root for hockey?

I'm not saying everyone should have stuff handed over for free, but I suspect that income does influence how much of U-M you can fully take advantage of. And that's a shame.

Search4Meaning

March 26th, 2010 at 11:30 AM ^

As a past Student Government representative I can assure you that these individuals will do their very best. It was my experience that most candidates and members had the best of intentions.

From my experience however, there are a few limiting factors here:

1. They are inexperienced

2. They will have differing opinions on everything

3. They are very part time

4. There is little continuity from year to year due to turnover.

Probably the most challenging factor is the last one.

I have come to realize that Student Government is an excellent learning experience - often an invaluable one. However it is often less than effective in the longer timeframes.

My final suggestion is to get involved. While it may be a frustrating process from time to time - it is a great experience overall.

Not sure this answered your question, but I hope it helps.

Tacopants

March 26th, 2010 at 2:51 PM ^

1. Public Speaking

2. Learning how to deal with the dumbass Chair who can't manage anything effectively

3. Becoming the dumbass Chair, and realizing that the job is harder than it looks

4. Robert's Rules. How to manipulate Robert's Rules. How to put an end to said manipulation.

I could go on a rant on how and why I grew disillusioned about student government, but in the end, it was good for my personal development.

Feat of Clay

March 26th, 2010 at 11:50 AM ^

Well, FWIW, last year the U joined a student survey project started by the University of California system. The questions span a lot of subjects, including your experience in your major, how you spend your time, affordability, satisfaction, how well you know professors, etc.

The very last question on the survey is "What one realistic thing do you think the U could do to improve undergraduate education?"

I'm pretty involved in this project (called UMAY), and I can tell you that every single idea from last year was read. Schools & colleges got copies of what their students suggested. All the comments about advising are being looked at hard. We also pulled out every single comment having to do with aid, costs, tuition, etc., and those were shared with people are the highest levels in Fleming. Comments are still being shared and discussed. But last year was a pilot, and only about a quarter of U-M undergrads filled it out.

The U is doing it again, if you're an undergrad you can take it right now. Student responses are going to get attention. We can't force people to act, but we can make them aware of the things that students want changed. I have seen for myself that student input can make a difference in how policy gets shaped.

So consider this as another way to put your $.02 in. There's a link on ctools, or go to http://umay.umich.edu

And forgive me plugging this here, but it seemed to fit.

buddha

March 26th, 2010 at 12:04 PM ^

maintain and heighten the enabliing, "incubating" environment that this campus offers. recognize that the education that students gain outside the classroom with their internships, jobs, etc. are equally as important as the knowledge they gain in the classroom. as such, the university needs to focus on "experiential" education, in addition to their rote platform. students need to get out in the "real world" during their undergraduate careers in order to be competitive in the job market after graduation. the emphasis should be on "hard skills." just my two cents...

Tacopants

March 26th, 2010 at 2:58 PM ^

Are you saying my genius idea of putting free soft serve ice cream machines in the lobbies of the study libraries was rejected? That would have greatly improved my undergraduate educational experience by making my library visits 1000x better.

ctmaizenblue

March 26th, 2010 at 12:17 PM ^

The myth of student led change is pushed onto student government organizations from the moment students run for 6th grade president. Not to minimize the the hard work these officers do, but true student led change cannot originate from student Government. They have no real authority. In the era of student led change, the students united around a common cause (ie draft etc.). In this era, there is no such common cause on campus.

Student led change is a nice concept, but the leaders have no real authority. It is sort of like electing one of your classmates to assign the class grades. Just because all of the students in the class like the idea, this does not mean the university will let it happen.

My advice, delete the emails. Vote for whoever annoys you the least.

tedbundy98

March 26th, 2010 at 1:15 PM ^

In my 4 years as a Michigan student i didn't give a shit about student government. I don't think anybody cared, other than the fact that people's emails were flooded by hopeful candidates nobody gave two shits about.

Wolverine318

March 26th, 2010 at 2:22 PM ^

Student led change at the college level is extremely difficult for reasons others have mentioned (high representative turnover, no real legislative power, diverse set of ideas and opinions). I was a rep at Purdue for the school of science. My only accomplishment was getting an outreach program for science off the ground, where we visit local elementary schools doing cool science experiments. In essance, you have to start small and build up overtime. It was a good experience. I got to learn how to deal with constituents, bureucracy, manage committees, work in a team and independently.

The biggest difference I have seen in the student governments between my undergrad at Purdue and at Michigan are the issues being examined. At Purdue we would have never imagined debating the merits of works in Indonesia as they do in MSA. Instead we focused on local issues in the student population and in the local city community. MSA needs to change their focus for them be to relevant to the student community. The average student sympathizes for problems occuring around the world, but they find more local issues more pressing.

bliang

March 26th, 2010 at 4:18 PM ^

The biggest difference I have seen in the student governments between my undergrad at Purdue and at Michigan are the issues being examined.
..
MSA needs to change their focus for them be to relevant to the student community..

Couldn't agree more; huge disconnect between imagined and actual scope of SG responsibilities in general.