With the appointment of a new AVP of Student Services coming
next week, the A.S. Council will hopefully pluck the worthiest candidate of
what Associate Vice President of Finance and Resources Sarah Chang calls an
“extremely competitive” applicant pool to oversee the position’s resurrection,
following last year’s extended vacancy. Chang’s recommendation is
Voice! affiliate who is “strongly involved” with
appointee’s resuscitation list are KSDT and SRTV, two student media bodies that
collapsed last year. Luckily, the new AVP won’t be building from scratch: KSDT
has freshly returned to the airwaves, while SRTV is moving into an upgraded
facility with new equipment. There is much potential here; these student-run
opertations extol the flavors of alternative culture that this college lacks so
sorely.
Also under the elected official’s watch is A.S. Safe Ride,
the council-sponsored service that transports stranded students. This service
is due for operational expansion. However, improvements shouldn’t be the
imprudent kind: The new plan to include Thursday in the handy service’s days of
operation is a step to take years from now, when Safe Ride is more popular and
heavily used. The new student services leader should first find better
publicity avenues to jumpstart Safe Ride usage while still maintaining the
service’s concept: encouraging safety and convenience. Safe Ride, at its best,
could be this campus’ most-used student service.
All this is more than a full plate for whoever the council
elects. The incoming AVP will need to exude communication and a serving spirit.
He or she should expect to develop a good rapport with the council’s services,
and be innovative enough to identify ways to extend the services’ reach.
If the council occupies the position with a stagnant
figurehead, it will reap the same result as last year: nothing.
