Seton Hall University’s Student Government Association (SGA) will host a virtual town hall event on Wednesday, March 10 in which University administrators will provide live responses to questions and concerns posed by students.
The approximately one-hour event will take place at 5 p.m. in a Microsoft Teams video conference. The event link will be made available on the SGA Instagram page and the University’s online calendar. SGA is encouraging broad student attendance and participation.
“This town hall will be looking at specific issues that we believe students are concerned about and focusing on, rather than a more general town hall which has been traditional in the past,” SGA President Julia Nicolls said. “Student concerns look much different right now than they did in August and September.”
The timing of the town hall is meant to coincide with a Board of Regents meeting occurring the following week which SGA members will attend.
“The reason why this town hall is so important and why student feedback is specifically so important here is that the majority of the actions that the university is going to be undergoing within the next academic year are going to be decided the week after,” Nicolls said. “Our goal is that student feedback can help inform administrative decisions for the following year.”
Topics of discussion at the town hall will include the upcoming renovations to the University Center and Boland Hall, financial aid and the possibility of a tuition increase for the 2021-2022 school year, Nicolls said. Additionally, the town hall will cover student concerns related to student services and health services.
“We’re looking into having members of the Health Intervention and Communication Team as well as Health Services go over increased surveillance testing because that has been a huge topic, and also go over what vaccine rollout is going to look like for students,” Nicolls said.
Nicolls confirmed that Vice President of Student Services Dr. Shawna Cooper-Gibson will be attending the meeting.
“[Dr. Cooper-Gibson] has been the main pinpoint for helping student government achieve this town hall since she is an executive cabinet member,” Nicolls said. “It’s likely that we’ll see members of her Student Services team there as well.”
According to Cooper-Gibson, the town hall is also set to be attended by Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Karen Van Norman, Director of Health Services Diane Lynch and Associate Dean of Student Engagement Colleen Dallavalle.
Nicolls said that questions students may pose relating to student services could relate to the Class of 2021 graduation ceremony and university rules regarding organization events on-campus.
Students who are unable to attend the Town Hall can submit their questions to the SGA Instagram account throughout the day of the town hall. Specific questions may be forwarded to the deans and administrators to which they relate.
“We’ve gotten student feedback over the last year that students want to see more tangible results,” Nicolls said. “By staggering this town hall right before the Board of Regents meeting, we’re more likely to see a swifter action timeline than we have in the past.”
Louis Motta can be reached at louis.motta@student.shu.edu
