Wisinger, Amber: President

 If I were president of Southern Arkansas University, I would make a few changes. There would only be a few small changes, but I would make one big change. The small changes would be mostly administrative changes. There would be more faculty members, maybe even a special committee, who would focus on transfer students. As a transfer student, I have encountered many problems with transcripts and financial aid. I would hope that having a group of people who are only focused on the needs of transfer students would improve or eliminate problems like those that I have had this semester. Another small change would be longer breaks between classes. There is not always enough time to get from class to class, especially if your classes are across campus from one another. Just an extra five minutes would make a huge difference. I would also do my best to accommodate those students who commute. As a student who commutes approximately 50 miles one way, I have found it difficult to attend most organization meetings and other events. Some meetings are required and some allow students to earn bonus points, but if the meeting is at 5:00 pm and my last class of the day ended at 10:50 am, I wouldn’t want to stay around campus for that long; and driving home only to drive back to school would be extremely wasteful of time, energy, and gas.

            

The big change I would make is I would convert the entire University into a “green” school. All of the energy used would be created by wind and solar power. Everything would be recycled; there would be receptacles for aluminum, plastic, and paper readily available to all students. Food would not be wasted either; all food waste would go into compost bins. The compost would then be used to fertilize organic school gardens. The vegetables grown would then be cooked in the meals served at school. There are many other ways to make the school green, and I would try to use many of them. Being a green school would not only make our little spot on the planet a better place, but would also bring more students and more money for the university.