Next university president should use technology to communicate with students
The Oct. 1 deadline for applications for the job of Central Michigan University President has passed, and CMU administrators and Trustees say they are going to do their best to name Interim President Kathy Wilbur’s successor by Jan. 1, 2010.
Last week, the Presidential Screening Committee, a 15-member committee made up primarily of CMU staffers in addition to SGA President Jason Nichol, several local community members and a search consultant, held an open forum for students to come and voice their opinions about what they wanted to see in CMU’s next president.
Nichol set up the forum perfectly, giving a brief synopsis of how he wanted everything to play out. Then he opened the floor for questions from the students to several members of the committee.
Several issues were addressed by the students, such as education requirements, diversity, whether or not the next university president will understand the economic situation in Michigan. Students also asked how much communication and visibility there will be from the next president.
Judging by how much time was spent on the issue of communication/visibility, it is clear that students want to the next president to be more visible than in the past.
Many suggestions were given to the committee about how to improve communication between the president and the student body.
The idea that got the most attention from the attendees was that the president should engage in the use of social media to keep the students up-to-date about what is going on within the administration.
One student suggested a Twitter or Facebook account and to use those services not only keep to the students informed, but also let them know about forums and meetings that will be held. Another student offered the idea of a President’s Blog on the CMU website that would keep everybody updated on university activities on a regular basis.
These are excellent ideas and they could be effective if the administration puts in the effort to keep them up-to-date. But what the student body must remember that communication is a two-way street and it must be reciprocated.
One committee member said that former President Michael Rao was discouraged when he held town hall style meetings and only a handful of students chose to attend.
If the next president is to have effective communication with us, the student body needs to show him or her that we are worth the time and effort by showing up to meetings, asking questions, voicing our opinions and criticizing the administration when warranted.
We cannot expect the next president to put the time in if we are not willing to do the same.
CMU has a great collection of students and it is our job to pick up some of the slack, and help forge the bridge between the student body and the administration.
