SRC sets new goals to better represent student body
- posted: 19 Feb. 2008
- scrollcampus@byui.edu
Students, please meet SRC. SRC, these are the students, and they want to have their questions answered and ideas validated. Now, be friends, and go to work.
The SRC, or Student Representative Council, has changed the way it takes concerns from students in hopes of becoming more like a customer service agency to the BYU-Idaho student body.
“When I campaigned, students said they [viewed] the SRC as the Student Reprimand Council, acting as the ‘rubber stamp’ of administration,” said Stephanie Barclay, a senior studying business and student body vice-president.
One of the changes the SRC has made is the method of handling students’ problems. In previous semesters, the line of communication went from students to council members — who decided whether the concern was important — to the administration before being considered for action, or, most often, rejected.
Now the proposed problems flow “from students to the representative to the council — which validates and researches every concern — and then to project facilitation,” said Nathan Reagan, a junior studying communication and the project coordinator of the SRC.
When the problem reaches the facilitation stage, the council gathers information and creates proposals for administration; at this point, those in charge must accept and implement.
“The student forums in general are a completely new program. We questioned, ‘How can we be more student-friendly and address specific topics and policies, or whatever their questions are?’” Barclay said.
Reagan and Barclay said they hope students will see the changes they can make in the university if they are willing to stand up and take charge.
“We want to become a customer service agency by either putting [students] in contact with a person that can help or by initiating a project that can make changes,” Reagan said.
Another new facet of the SRC is the Online Concern Program, which allows students to submit concerns and view ideas of other students. The Web site, found at http://web.byui.edu/srcinput, also lets students see what actions are being made to resolve the issues.
“We want [students] to know it is OK to disagree with anything; we want to create a safe environment for students to express their views,” Barclay said. 
