Government options weighed

Published 2/26/98

After repeated attempts to restore a student government at Point Park College, Charles Quillin, dean of student development, is looking at possible changes to its structure.

Some ideas include paying students for elected positions and dividing student government by each academic department. "We would like to see a group of students who are willing to study governance, and we would do group research on other colleges and what they do," Quillin said.

In order to compensate a student who would serve on a student government, Quillin said the college would have to find other means to accumulate revenue if the college was to pay them. One option would be to raise the student activities fee. "If you compare the activity fee with other schools, we are unbelievably inexpensive," Quillin said.

The student activities fee is currently $28 per term for a full-time student. Part-time students aren't charged an activities fee.

Quillin said the Student Development Faculty Committee previously recommended a scholarship award for elected student government members, but the proposal didn't make clear where the money would be coming from and therefore wasn't implemented.

Because of limited financial resources, Quillin said giving students college credit for their time in student government is a more likely solution. Currently, anyone serving in an elected student government position is eligible to receive credit. Quillin said students aren't aware of this opportunity and believes the office of student development should publicize this opportunity more effectively.

All previous student government involvement has been on a volunteer basis.

Another idea, Quillin said, that was under consideration is dividing student government by academic departments and having each department deal with its own interests. Once or twice a term, the departments would convene and discuss systemwide issues.

This idea hasn't been discussed to the departments yet because it's still being looked into, Quillin said.

A similar democratic process has been done in the fine, applied and performing arts department for about eight years, Quillin said. Whenever there is a problem, the FAPA department has an elected council that meets and convenes on the matter.

"The FAPA students spend five to six hours a day in the studio; they don't have much time, but they manage to get a lot accomplished with this system," Quillin said.

In addition, Quillin said that if students get involved in issues that directly affect their department, they'll take a greater interest in it.

There are problems with this idea though, Quillin said. Some departments would have difficulty organizing their students together. The natural sciences and engineering department, Quillin said, is made up primarily of part-time, adult students who take night classes, and it would be more difficult for them to organize than other departments, such as FAPA and journalism and communications.

There are different reactions to this idea. Cheryl Berkley, a journalism and communications major and the last active student government president in the the Fall of 1996, likes the idea but believes the departments would have to meet more often in order to work efficiently.

"There are different things happening to different departments at different times," she said.

Dr. Emmett Panzella, government and international studies chair, thinks the current student government system is the "ideal situation," but said if interest in the current system isn't working, then alternatives may have to be looked at.

"We need some form of governance," Panzella said.

Dr. Steven Koski, journalism and communications chair, thinks allocating funds to student clubs and organizations, which is a primary role of student government, would be better suited if the college gave out the funds to its clubs and organizations.

Currently, Quillin, Director of Student Activities Jim Shields and Assistant to the Dean of Student Development Jan Ryan deal with allocating $5,000 in funds to various clubs and organizations.

"Students just don't have the time," Koski said.

One reason FAPA is successful at having a democratic process, Koski said, is because most FAPA students are residential and therefore are able to meet more often than students in other departments.

John Biles, 21, disagrees. Biles, a double major, said because students are commuters that doesn't mean they are not capable of assuming a student government position. A sophomore class representative for the theatre council, Biles said the majority of FAPA council members are commuter students.

Quillin hopes to have some structure of student government in place soon because Point Park is preparing for an accrediting evaluation from the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Quillin said the Commission is looking for a student government structure to be in place by the year 2000.

Several reasons why student government isn't as prominent as it has been in previous years, Quillin said, include internship requirements that present cirrulca have, more students having to work part time or full time to help pay for tuition and expenses and an overall broad generational change in students' attitude.

Quillin is equally critical of his department's efforts to remedy the situation, saying student development hasn't been as responsive as they should be.

With no organized student government, Quillin said students have no collective voice on issues the school is facing. One example Quillin cited was several years ago when there was talk of Point Park forming an alliance with Duquesne University. Although students were vocal in their opinions of the proposed alliance, Quillin said their output was limited.

"Without a student government, there was no way the students could go on record," he said.

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