Editor’s note: Special Events Coordinator, Leah Walukones, requested that the event not be recorded for privacy. No student names from the event will be included.
President Luke Wood and Associated Students Inc. held the first of his planned “100 days of listening” student forums to address concerns Wednesday, Sep. 20, 2023.
“This is not a question-and-answer session, but an opportunity to listen,” Wood said.
Students spoke about issues they face with campus safety, lighting on buildings and pathways, mental health, financial aid, obtaining software licenses on university computers and stalking.
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Wood said he heard a complaint from a student about the financial aid office taking five to six weeks to respond. Wood elaborated that he hoped this was a one-off case, but heard similar stories from other students.
Wood said work is being done to increase the financial aid and scholarship staff to improve responsiveness to student concerns and provide more resources to the student support staff.
He also commented on the long waitlists for therapy services. Wood said he is “not waiting to get it done,” and that the university was already in the process of installing more lighting and emergency monitors, hiring security officers and hiring seven more full-time counselors.
“I hope that every student walks away with the confidence that they can do whatever it is they desire to,” Wood said.
Prior to the forum, students expressed the concerns they had. Rebekah Rardin, a fourth-year Spanish major, said she had some concerns with the university’s communication with students.
“Sac State doesn’t necessarily do a good job at getting information out there to students all the time,” Rardin said.
Rardin recalled helping friends starting out at the university navigate the student center due to lack of communication from the university on how to utilize the site.
Another issue, mentioned by first-year computer science major Nick Fedor, was on-campus parking.
“Parking sucks,” Fedor said. “Sometimes I’ll get here and have to go to the back of the parking lot to find a spot, and then sometimes there just isn’t one and I have to wait for a spot to open up.”
Not all students had pressing concerns though. Sage Branum, a first-year studio arts major, said she didn’t have any particular issues with Sac State.
“I feel like this campus is pretty good at communicating what people here need to know,” Branum said.
Wood concluded the forum by speaking about his hopes for Sac State.
“I hope that you know that as much as you care about Sac State, as much as we care about you, we’re here to support you,” Wood said. “We’re here to make sure that every single one of you have the opportunity, have the support and the climate that you need to walk across that stage of graduation.”
Future in-person student forums will be taking place on Oct. 2 and Oct. 30 at the University Union Ballroom from 12:00-1:15 p.m. and 4:00-5:15p.m., respectively.
