Salt Lake Community College’s new president, as well as members of his executive cabinet, responded to student concerns at the Fall Student Forum on Sept. 26 at the Taylorsville campus.
“It is important to hear student voices at events like this,” said Gregory F. Peterson, the ninth president of SLCC.
The forum enabled face-to-face interaction between SLCC students and administrators, including Peterson, who began his tenure in July after being appointed to the role in April. Other SLCC cabinet members in attendance included Brett Perozzi, the vice president for student affairs, and Jason Pickavance, the interim provost for academic affairs.
In their opening remarks, each spoke of their desires to hear from students.
“I like to hang out where students are going to be,” said Perozzi, who also invited students to visit with him at his office in the Student Center on the Taylorsville campus.
Pickavance joined the conversation by explaining how he enjoyed attending classes.
“I continue to learn so I know what it feels like to be a student,” he said, adding that his most recent endeavor involved learning to play the banjo, an experience he described as “humbling.”
After their brief introduction, the administrators fielded student questions submitted to the SLCC Student Association (SLCCSA). Nahomi Rei Pena, the current SLCCSA president, hosted the Q&A segment.
The forum also included an open mic portion where students could ask additional questions not previously submitted to SLCCSA. Questions ranged from education cost, fall break, continued concerns on HB261 impacts, SLCC parking tickets, and ePortfolio requirements.
Education costs
Regarding inquiries on lowering education costs, Perozzi said, “We know you need money not just for tuition but for transportation, food, housing – life.”
Pickavance said SLCC attempted to keep course fees low and encouraged the use of free or low-cost textbooks.
“We are aware you aren’t independently wealthy,” Pickavance added.
Perozzi also detailed how he viewed the purpose of allocating funds for higher education. According to Perozzi, colleges could allocate funds from two different positions: one that benefited the institution, or one that favored the students. Perozzi expressed that SLCC consistently attempted to do the latter.
One specific financial concern raised during the forum involved the parking ticket payment time frame, which is currently a seven-day period. Students argued that the time frame creates a hardship when paying off tickets as some students are paid biweekly.
Although there were no immediate resolutions, Peterson assured students he would investigate the potential for extending the time frame for paying a parking ticket.
Aside from financial matters, students expressed dissatisfaction with course availability, noting it could be difficult to find courses they need at campuses they attend.
“We would like all the main campuses to offer sufficient courses to complete general education,” Pickavance responded. The panel further expressed they would be willing to begin implementing improvements in this area at the college.
In a related issue, students inquired on the possibility of replacing ePortfolio, with some students expressing how they find the platform difficult and unrewarding to use.
Pickavance explained that in general education programs, the choice is between a rigid list of requirements or a program that includes similar programs to ePortfolio, which provide students more flexibility.
“ePortfolio can be a tool for you to make sense of your general education experience,” Pickavance said.
Regarding the use of ePortfolio, the administration said that many workplaces will use programs like ePortfolio, which made the experience of creating a student general education portfolio valuable. They also recommended that students who find themselves struggling with the platform may visit one of the campus ePortfolio labs for help.
Community engagement concerns
Students expressed continued concerns about Utah House Bill 261’s impact on the educational environment, especially regarding students of color and the LGBTQ community.
“We want SLCC to be a place where every student feels welcome, every student can be successful,” Peterson said.
The panel expressed optimism that HB 261 would not affect the SLCC community drastically, saying they hold out hope that the new rules placed will provide “leeway and leverage” to student clubs and strengthen the power of the Thayne Center and its ability to provide various services such as the Gender and Sexuality Student Resource Center.
The administration was not yet certain on any impacts that would occur regarding transgender athletes in sports, stating they were still becoming informed on state rules regarding HB 261 and HB 257.
In another pressing concern, students expressed not being able to access religious sites such as lds.org while on campus. The panel explained that the new Bruin network is filtered and might drop some sites, although the eduroam network should give students the access they want to religious sites.
The administration faced some complicated questions, like why SLCC’s fall break lands on Thursday and Friday while some state universities receive a week.
“It is an old decision. It’s always been this way,” Peterson said, suggesting student leaders should push for change for students to receive longer breaks.
First year undeclared major Maura Squires expressed dissatisfaction with the response about the length of fall break.
“I felt like he [Peterson] didn’t know the answer,” she said. “I have friends at the U, and I feel left out when they are making plans for fall break. A whole week works better for me.”
Although some students wanted more depth from the panel regarding certain topics, the administration expressed their commitment to finding answers.
“That’s why we’re here,” Peterson said, assuring the crowd that he would research solutions for inquiries that the administration could not answer during the forum.
Perozzi was pleased with the student participation in the forum.
“I am always impressed with the level of questions, [and] the engagement,” he said.
The administration encouraged students to stop by their offices to voice further concerns or to follow up on resolutions for unanswered questions.
Student forums are held every fall and spring semester.
