Students attending the University are actively thinking of innovative ways to improve their campus. It’s not unusual for students to voice their opinions and concerns on social media and in person to different administrators.

Kaylani Othman, freshman and Adolescence to Young Adult Education (AYA) Language Arts major, feels issues pertaining to dining services on-campus are of the utmost importance.

“Lines are so long people don’t want to wait, so they go to Outtakes, which is more expensive for students,” she said.

Jodi Webb, Dean of Students, responded with helpful outlets to express concerns, such as the dining advisory board and suggestions for dodging the large lines by avoiding certain high-activity times of the day, such as in-between classes.

“I think that there are peak times that there are often lines and it might be hard to completely control. However, I think if it’s a continual sort of thing and there’s the sense that there could be additional lines that are staffed and they’re not, [then] I think those are things that we should bring to the attention of dining,” she said.

Othman has ideas of how to fix the issues that she sees, such as better training for employees and a more diverse menu selection.

On the other hand, Rachel Szabo, first-year business student, feels the most important issue on-campus is transportation.

“Not all students have cars, and we already have a lot of students using the shuttles,” she said.

Dean Webb suggested that now is the perfect time for students to start voicing their concerns with Aaron Kane, Manager of Parking Services.

“I think that this is the right time of year to get those concerns in front of Aaron Kane because they’ll start mapping out the routes for next year,” she said.

Melanie Isenogle, graduate art history student, is more upset with the allocation of resources at the University. She mentioned the “business-oriented” mindset that gives campus resources generously to the athletics department, but leaves other corners of the University strained for funds.

When speaking of her program, she said, “I could see it not existing in 15 years.”

“I would always suggest starting at the departmental level, but another resource is talking with the associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences,” Webb said.

Webb went on to explain how there may be available grants and other sources of funds that could be explored based on a student’s individual areas of concern.

Lauren Wells, senior gerontology student, said above all else, the biggest issue she sees at the University is the lack of school spirit.

“People stopped caring. BG is a lot of people’s second choice to big schools like OSU,” she said.

“I think, as an institution, we always need to promote those traditions of campus and probably early on help new students understand what those are and encourage them to get involved,” Webb said.

Sam Galloway, junior AYA social studies major, sees a major issue with engagement on-campus. As a resident advisor, she sees the impact engagement with campus life can have on a college student and said she wished she had done more branching out when she was a first-year student.

“A good idea is for different student organizations to visit the residence halls and introduce themselves to students so more people can get involved,” she said.

Emphasizing the importance of student engagement on campus, Webb agreed with Galloway’s view on the need for engagement.

“I’m a firm believer that students need those opportunities outside of the classroom, whether it’s connecting with their major or social opportunities because I think for our traditional college-aged students, those are the kinds of things that make or break their experience here at BGSU,” she said.