Responding to questions

Dean of Students Office holds town hall meeting to address students’ concerns

As the 2015-2016 school year draws to a close, the Dean of Students Office held a Q&A panel discussion for students to voice their ideas for the upcoming year.

The Dean of Students Office panel discussion Tuesday, April 5 gave students the opportunity to voice their opinions and ask questions about what they wanted changed or brought back for the next school year. The Registrar’s Office, the Center for Multicultural Enrichment, Student Housing, LUPD and Dining Services were just a few of the departments present in the panel discussion.

With students voicing their concerns and opinions, the three most-discussed topics were transportation, security and dining. Students spoke on these topics due to the recent changes they have seen on campus.

Student Body President Quincy Thompson spoke on behalf of the Student Government Association (SGA). He gave insight on what happened last Q&A panel, saying students talked about dining and parking often, and several problems with parking were fixed.

“A lot of students have always raised concerns about parking,” Thompson said. “We have made some headway on that, and the Student Government Association was privileged to meet with university planners to recommend some solutions. Two parking garages will be coming in 2017, and in addition to that, they are building a gravel lot (which) will have 600 parking spots that will replace the band practice fields.”

Another topic that was covered during the discussion was the transportation system. The question was from a commuter student who needed to be dropped off at Green Hall, but the Transit Affairs Office removed the apartment bus stop there.

“There is no Cornerstone (Apartments) bus stop at North anymore,” student Michael King said. “I was wondering if that could be brought back? I will be a commuter next year, and since the (studio and digital arts) department is at North, having that bus stop would be crucial.”

Assistant Transit Manager Robert Smith responded with providing the reason the stop was removed.

“We eliminated it because over 90 percent of the commuter students were going to DeMoss Hall,” Smith said. “This semester, we’ve reinstituted our 70 express route which goes directly from the Vines Center to Green Hall.

It is actually faster for you to get off at DeMoss, grab the next 70 and go to Green Hall.”

Smith also mentioned that since the class transition is now only 15 minutes instead of 20 minutes, they are looking into faster ways to get students around campus. He said the 70 bus was brought back because of the change in class transition times.

President of the Commuter Student Association Kelsey Gold asked transit services about getting buses to come to Cornerstone Apartments on weekends to bring students to campus.

“I know many off-campus students completely rely on transit systems to get to school,” Gold said. “They rely on it to get to the library or the gym.”

Smith also responded to Gold’s question regarding weekend bus services to Cornerstone.

“The commuter route exists to get students to class, and the university also offers any student a pass to ride GLTC at no cost to the student,” Smith said. “We are actually working with GLTC to encourage them to establish a route to Cornerstone.”

Smith went on to say that it was not possible for Liberty buses to go to the apartments on weekends. He also recommends the GLTC pass for off-campus students who need to come to campus on weekends.

After the recent bomb scare the school had, questions about potential security changes were brought up.

“I understand that we can call (LUPD), and pulling the fire alarm might be a way of getting attention to the situation,” a student at the Q&A said. “(But) is there any system in the works or (other) plans for the future?”
Associate Vice President for Security and Public Safety Ron Sloan represented LUPD and gave an answer to the student’s question.

“We continually research other campuses and what local law enforcement would recommend, and the BlueLight is something that we are looking at,” Sloan said. “We do instruct the concealed carry (course), and we just had two officers come through the Refuse to be a Victim program through the NRA. That will come out shortly for all students and staff to take.”

Sloan went on to mention how great the program is and how the students and faculty of Liberty University should take the course.

“We are trying to empower the students so that you have the ability and the knowledge of what to do and when to do it,” Sloan said. “We are (also) doing a full camera assessment for the university right now.”

Dean of Students Robert Mullen added that the students’ most powerful device they have is their cellphone. He encouraged them to use it if they were to see anything suspicious or strange happening on campus.

Another topic covered was the dining services department. A student asked if there were any plans for applications being developed for students to order their food over the phone and then pick it up after class.

“We actually have, and we are going to test it next fall with our first pizza delivery concept on campus,” Director of Food Service Operations Louis Campbell said. “It’s going to be in the drive-thru section of Doc’s Diner, and we are converting that whole side into the pizza concept.”

Campbell also gave students a bit of insight about new food concepts that are going into the new Student Center on campus behind DeMoss Hall. He said these new concepts will be a great add-on for the university.

“We are going to have six new retail locations in there,” Campbell said. “We have a Mediterranean concept, Wood Fire concept, a healthy burger concept, an Asian concept, a tea concept, and a convenience store concept in there.”

Campbell also said that if students have the commuter plus meal plan or the residential plus meal plan, they will be able to use swipes at these new concepts in the fall. He said that students will have access through the back part of DeMoss Hall to get to these places.

If students have any questions about next year, they can visit the Dean of Students Office located in Green Hall 1830 or email deanofstudents@liberty.edu.

Robertson is a news reporter.