Caelin Bragg
Advertising & Distribution Manager
Butler President Kim Krull hosted her monthly public forum to hear the concerns of students in the Student Union on the El Dorado campus.
The purpose of the public meeting is for students to have an open discussion with administration on their experience, both positive and negative, at Butler. Student Government Association (SGA) served pizza and soft drinks for those in attendance.
“It’s always fun for me to get together and start to get acquainted,” Krull said during the meeting. “I always tell students every year that this gives you an opportunity to know who I am, so when you see me on campus or you need to get a hold of me and talk to me, you can do that.”
The meeting lasted for an hour. Krull, Vice President of Student Services Bill Rinkenbaugh and SGA Adviser Andrea Miller started with quick introductions before the students present introduced themselves.
The meeting quickly moved to discussions about the college. Many students brought up the communal feeling of the college and how they feel safe on the campus compared to other colleges in the area thanks to the hands-on Public Safety Office.
Concerns were also brought up during the meeting. The biggest concern was the availability of food on campus. Some students were upset over the limited range of meal plans offered by the college, while others wished that it was not required to buy a meal to eat with friends in the cafeteria.
The topic of better advertising events happening on campus was also discussed, and the SGA President Christian Leis hopes to build more engagement from students.
“I’ve already talked to Andrea about a couple things from the meeting,” Leis said. “We’re going to have a lot to work with this year, hopefully get a lot done. I talked with [Keith West, professor of Mass Communications and adviser for the TV and radio stations], we’re going to get a lot of involvement going. That’s what I’m big on here at school. We had low involvement numbers, and I want to get those numbers up.”
Leis has started his own Twitter account as SGA president (@BCCSGAPresident), separate from the main SGA account, to better connect directly with students at the college.