OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

The Student Center, which this summer made plans to renovate and dramatically alter Tech Rec, received an architect's proposal for a new design for the facility this week. The new design has been in the works for several months, but Student Center management is only now beginning to solicit student feedback on the changes. Prior to this week, only a few students were aware of the planning process, and due to the timeline of the architect's work effort students now have only one week to make suggestions about the proposal. This is clearly an inadequate amount of time for any meaningful input.

Unfortunately, this failure to solicit student feedback on major decisions seems to be endemic to the administration of late. When administrators began investigating changes to the undergraduate curriculum, a process that will affect more than 12,000 students, only a few students were invited to participate in the initial conversation. Ray Vito, the new vice provost of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies, said more student feedback would be solicited as the process "wound down."

These two examples point to a pattern that is troubling: the administration is only paying lipservice to the idea of student feedback rather than seriously seeking it. The assumption that students don't care to participate in the decisions about how their education is changed and money is spent is one we believe needs to be re-evaluated by all levels of Institute leadership.

Administrators frequently argue that Tech students are apathetic about issues that affect them, and even when they go out of their way to solicit feedback they don't get much input. This is, unfortunately, a very legitimate point: input is a two-way street, and students must take the time to actively give their feedback when it is requested, especially when the issue is one that affects them so dramatically.

However, the administration must realize that much of the apathy students feel is a result of a feeling of disenfranchisement: the weak attempts to solicit feedback on major initiatives have led many students to believe their opinions are not actually taken into consideration. The result is a vicious cycle-students don't respond, administrators don't ask, and students feel increasingly upset. This is an unfortunate and dangerous catch-22 that, if not dealt with, will result in a growing gulf between the opinions of the student body and the administration.

To address the issue, administrators should take a multifaceted approach to seeking feedback earlier and more frequently. That feedback should also come at more defined intervals-semesterly town halls on broad topics like the Student Center as a whole, for instance, may draw greater interest.