Off-campus students have lunch with McKaig

Carrying his black skateboard, sophomore Patrick Ward walked into the nearly empty Georgian Room at 11:45 a.m. Thursday to find Assistant Dean of Students Suzanne Phillips organizing name tags at the front table.\n"Can I put you to work?" she asked Ward, inquiring if he could move the coat rack to the front of the room as she placed purple programs detailing the services and programs offered by the Division of Student Affairs on each of the clothed tables.\nWard joined almost 80 other randomly selected students Thursday to have lunch with Dean of Students Richard McKaig and talk about issues affecting students who live off campus.\n"We want your insight and advice," McKaig said at the beginning of the lunch. "What are we not doing that we ought to be doing?"\nMcKaig said the lunches occur four times a year, each one about a different topic. Thursday's lunch was geared toward off-campus sophomores and juniors.\n"Anytime I told anyone that I was having lunch with the dean of students, they were like, 'What did you do?'" Ward said, laughing.\nWard joined juniors Valerie Ray and Erin Poe, as well as, Hugh Jessop, director of the IU Health Center, to discuss a list of questions about off-campus students' perceptions of student services.\n"Usually I improvise," Jessop said as the three students went to the buffet to get their lunch. "I find out what the students are interested in and discuss those issues. It's more fun when they talk about something they want to talk about."\nJessop started with the easy questions, such as year, major and hometown, before moving into the main topics. \n"Ah, here's one I'm interested in," Jessop said. "Have you seen any advertising about the Health Center, and if so, where?"\nAfter covering the Health Center and the Counseling and Psychological Services' Web site, Poe looked up from her plate as McKaig sat down next to Ward at the table.\n"Well, now you have the dean right here," Jessop said. "I'm volunteering him for questions."\nMcKaig ate lasagna and nodded as the three students discussed problems with parking and getting around downtown Bloomington.\nMcKaig said after the lunch, that each table leader, who is a member of either the Division of Student Affairs or city officials, reports their findings to McKaig, who addresses the issues.\n"They aren't statistical findings or high research findings, but they are helpful," he said.\nAfter cleaning his plate and addressing the issues that interested the three students at Jessop's table, McKaig wiped his mouth with his napkin and got up from the table.\n"It's been nice talking with you," he said.\n-- Contact senior writer Kathleen Quilligan at kquillig@indiana.edu.