Students, dean discuss changes for IU

While some came for the free lunch and some to meet new people, all 110 of the students who crowded into the Georgian Room on Wednesday at the Indiana Memorial Union were there to help make IU a better institution. \n“I’ve done this kind of luncheon for quite some time now, and I really enjoy it because I am able to get different insights from students to make IU a better place for everyone,” Dean of Students Dick McKaig said. \nMcKaig invited 300 IU students to join him and his staff for a luncheon Wednesday. Suzanne Phillips, the assistant dean of students, said McKaig has held similar luncheons like this for the past 12 years. Phillips said there are four luncheons held every year, and students are randomly selected and invited to participate in them. \nOne luncheon is held for the freshmen so faculty can ask about their new experiences at IU. Another luncheon is held for seniors to allow them to reflect on their previous years at IU. The other two luncheons have different themes, involving campus issues for any and all of the students invited to participate to give their opinions.\nPhillips said Wednesday’s luncheon, with 110 students who attended, was the biggest hosted so far. She said usually about 50 to 60 students show up for the event. \nA luncheon for the freshmen was supposed to be held in October, but because the Student VOICE Project, an initiative of the IU president’s office, was held around the same time, McKaig did not have the freshman luncheon. McKaig said he has rescheduled the freshman luncheon for January. \nThere were more than 14 round tables set up where students sat and ate lunch. Each table had a host who asked questions about IU’s facilities and Web sites. Students also answered questions about what IU can do to improve its conditions, and table hosts wrote down the responses. Phillips said the table hosts type summaries of all the students’ replies and create one report to submit to McKaig. \nBoth McKaig and Phillips said they love hosting the luncheons because they are able to meet students they wouldn’t usually meet. Because the invitation is given out to randomly selected students, they can never expect who to meet. \n“It’s wonderful how I get to meet all kinds of students; I mean the students range from a 18-year-old freshman student to a 40-year-old nontraditional undergraduate student,” McKaig said. “All the students’ voices and opinions are important to me and IU.” \nMcKaig said he hopes to keep hosting the luncheons and receive students’ opinions because improvements to the University can be made from what students want.\n“There are a lot of issues in our campus,” McKaig said. “It’s great when I know what the students think and want because there can be progressive changes made for IU.”