Complaints about a lack of communication led the conversation at Monday night’s Graduate Student Senate meeting.
A heated discussion arose about problems with the emergency text message system, which left some students without university updates during last month’s water line breakage in Athens and January’s search for an armed fugitive.
Ed Gaither, vice president for committees and Legislative Affairs, expressed his frustrations with not receiving pertinent information and his desire to bring it to the attention of the administration.
“The conversation I want to have with Dr. Lombardi is about those who have signed up and are expecting these messages,” he said. “Why are they not getting them?”
Molly Yanity, vice president for Administration and Finances, said she was teaching when students in her class received text messages about the armed fugitive, but did not receive any university information about what to do.
“The Residence Life staff was not given anything through their official channels,” Gaither said.
Other members of GSS expressed frustration with the system as well.
“Our biggest problem right now is that our systems are not as up-to-date as we would like them to be,” said Joel Newby, commissioner for graduate life. “The most efficient way that kids found out that day was Twitter, not through other resources.”
Gaither will meet with Ryan Lombardi, vice president for Student Affairs, on Tuesday to discuss the current emergency text system and to begin strengthening communication with administration.
“(The meeting is) one of the ideas we had to try to forge better relations with Student Affairs,” Gaither said.
Members of GSS have expressed dissatisfaction with the interaction between the body and university officials.
“It is kind of a long chain of being left out of things,” Gaither said.
Tynita White, president of GSS, will be meeting with interim dean of students Jenny Hall-Jones this week and Lombardi next week as a part of the effort to improve the flow of information.
The meeting concluded with Alex Wesaw being appointed commissioner of minority affairs.
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