SGA plans to draft a student bill of rights

By Laura Camper - General Assignment Reporter

SGA President Samantha Drews would like the SGA to draft a Student Bill of Rights explaining student rights in dealing with authorities as well as staff and faculty at UIS, she said at Sunday’s SGA meeting.  She said often the students don’t know what rights they have and she would like to draft something that could be handed out to all students. 
“I want students to know what they’re entitled to and what they’re not entitled to,” explained Drews. “They should know how to stay safe, how to act with authorities, what are their rights.”
Senator Donzhella Alford suggested that a procedure for submitting grievances should also be included.
The SGA will form a committee including a member of legal studies faculty, academic affairs and housing as well as legal studies students, SGA members and an advisor to draft a document explaining student’s rights.
Senator Evan Wilson submitted a letter, which she hopes to send to students of the College of Public Affairs and Administration next week. The letter informs the students of the possible merger of the college with the College of Education and Human Services and her opposition to the merger.
“This is pretty much an opinion piece on my part,” she said. “I’ve talked to about 100 students and I am comfortable sending this out.”  The SGA members voted to endorse Wilson’s effort as an educational measure.
Drews announced that representatives from Coca-Cola have e-mailed to arrange a meeting with SGA members and Steve Chrans, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs this week.  Student Life Director Cynthia Thompson said that Coca-Cola has somehow gotten wind of the possible Coke ban and added UIS to its list of schools to visit.
In other business, secretary Sarah Doyle said the required grade point average for student athletes is 2.0 and SGA’s required GPA is 2.5.  She said students with a 2.25 average may also want to build their resume with activities like the SGA and maybe the SGA’s requirement should be looked at.
Drews said the SGA had discussed the GPA requirement last year and lowered it from 3.0 to 2.5.  She said 2.5 “seems fine.”  She didn’t want to make another obstacle for those who want to get involved. “We have a hard enough time getting people involved at this campus.”
Doyle said that 54 percent of UIS athletes have a 3.0 or above GPA and have been named to the Athletic Director’s Academic Honor Roll.  “That’s very good compared to other schools.”
Attending the meeting were Drews, Vice President Bob Skorczewski, Doyle, Treasurer John Morris, Trustee Carrie Bauer, Senators Wilson, Alford, Ryan Morrison, Adam Beatty and Dan Johnson.  Also present were Thompson and Jim Korte, assistant dean of students.

A day in the life of an R.A.

By Janee Mitchell - Feature Writer

In the world of UIS resident assistants, the first thing you learn about a typical day is that there’s no such thing.
Pennyroyal RA Jahnette Coleman’s day includes picking up the orange and black duty bag that she says is equipped with a notebook for reference, and paperwork for incidents that may arise. Also, the RA takes the duty phone as well with all the important campus numbers on speed dial. Then she calls the police to let them know their duty has started.
Coleman said on a quiet day she has three basic rounds, which entails going through every court and laundry room for safety checks and to ensure each laundry room is clean. On a loud day Coleman said she receives a noise complaint at an hour where she’s sleeping or 3 or 4 a.m. lockouts. Coleman said when she is on duty she oversees all the townhouses and when she is not on duty she also has to oversee all townhouses because if another RA needs help they have to jump right in.
Coleman said that as an RA, “it’s key to have the ability to manage your time, you need to have a grasp of time management.” Coleman said she sleeps lighter when on duty and when she’s off-duty, then she rests. Coleman said some days you say, “Whew, I really wish I could get more sleep but you do your job because that’s what you signed up for.”
Coleman said, “No one shall come into this position just because their housing is paid for and they get a check.” Coleman also said that an RA needs to love what they are doing and enjoy helping others more than themselves.
She also said that serving others might become very hard if you measure it based on your pay and that “having a successful RA is having someone that enjoys what they’re doing, they go the extra mile and are an asset to their colleagues and the student body.” Coleman said anyone wishing to become an RA must be unbiased, patient, outgoing, energetic, sound and have a servant’s heart.
Coleman said she is “so fulfilled when I solve a resident’s problem, to know that someone was bettered because of something I’ve done to help them.” Coleman described one resident that made her fill fulfilled in her duties as an RA, Aakash Raut. She said when she made finals week baskets last semesters she really wanted to help and support the residents and she felt appreciated when, to relay his gratitude, Raut rewarded her and her roommates with a smart card.
While she enjoys every part of her job, Coleman said her least desiring task is “doing rounds in the bitter cold because we don’t have trees to block,” and that she has to hold her hood when walking through the courts and sometimes when she layers, it’s not enough.
Contrary to some of the popular beliefs on campus about RAs and their party busting techniques, Coleman said, “Busting a party for me is not exhilarating because I know the student will be in trouble.” She said she does not enjoy it because it can damage the student’s record and university standing but “I’m simply saying I don’t take joy in it. I will do it every time policy is broken, that’s my job but it’s always sad to see that happen.”
Marigold RA John Kelly said for him there is “no typical day, everyday is different,” and although there are some set things to do, he’s dealt a new hand everyday. Kelly said the highlight of his day is “definitely whenever someone looking for something finds it.”
Kelly said he enjoys helping people and it is good to know that you are getting paid for (something you want to do) helping others and getting them connected, its “the sweetest deal.” Kelly also said that although there are some off days where homework can get overwhelming, there is little stress and he is able to balance because he has a good community of friends and people to trust and rely on.
Kelly said his least-favorite task, besides plunging toilets, is seeing students in a bad position.
“It’s never fun to see someone in a compromised position or someone on their bad day.” Kelly said when you see people at those bad times you want to do your best to help but “there is nothing you can do to fix things, but you can work hard to make things better.”
Kelly said that he has a good sleep cycle but he would tell someone desiring to be an RA to be prepared to take naps, “you learn the value of nap time.” The first thing Kelly said he thinks of when he wakes is “Oh crap, I hope I charged my cell phone last night.”
Kelly enjoys his job as an RA and says that Housing gives RAs great training to prepare them for their duties. One of the training tools is a mock party bust in which the other RAs host a party in the townhouses that the trainee busts.
Kelly said when on duty, the Nextel, duty keys, info binder with phone numbers and incident reports need to be with the RA and to bust a party the RA must have a positive attitude and a knowledge of the policies, as well as determination. “The goal is not to ruin someone’s night for busting someone…follow guidelines, this sucks as much for us as it does for them, this is not the end to a career as student, etc. Policy violators can still be an RA.”
Kelly said that potential RAs should “be themselves, do not put on a mask. We need all sorts of people.” Kelly also said it is important to be responsible, involved and be prepared to invest time. Kelly said you should accomplish what you can accomplish and don’t try to be something you’re not.

UIS to offer grad certificate in homeland security studies

By Ashley Rook - General Assignment Reporter

The Illinois Board of Higher Education and Governor Rod Blagojevich are joining efforts to encourage the growth of Illinois’s homeland security industry. UIS is one of seven public universities that plan to offer coursework in homeland security and emergency response. 
Next semester UIS will offer a 20-credit hour graduate certificate program in Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security, said the Dean of Public Affairs Pinky Wassenberg. She said IBHE shared the statewide education proposal with UIS last spring.
 “When we found out that they (IBHE) were interested in having more programming developed in homeland security, we looked around and found that UIS actually has a substantial number of courses already being offered in the various departments here in the college of public affairs,” Wassenberg said last week.
Homeland security is an incredibly broad topic, said Wassenberg, and it encompasses curriculum from many areas. She said the political studies and criminal justice departments currently offer courses in national security, but there are other courses, too, that fit in well with the new field of study.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Wassenberg reminds us that national security is more than an issue of terrorism; it also embodies natural disaster response, disease control and many other areas. “The public health department has a course in epidemiology that can be useful and our environmental studies department offers two risk assessment-related courses,” said Wassenberg.
The risk assessment classes will be a part of the new certificates core course work, which includes three courses in risk communication, risk assessment and program evaluation, said Wassenberg. These classes will be set forth to instruct homeland security and emergency preparedness practitioners of environmental planning and public health risks.  
Some Illinois universities are developing undergraduate programs in homeland security and topic specific research programs for grad students, but Wassenberg said UIS is the only university to focus on graduate level education for practitioners who are already in the field.
Aside from the certificate’s core requirements, graduates may also choose from two electives, said the dean. Enrollment in the program will begin next fall. Although the curriculum additions are still going through governance, Wassenberg said because UIS already had courses in place, the process is moving along fairly quickly.
Wassenberg said further curriculum will be designed by UIS faculty and professionals in specific topical areas. She said computer information security, for example, is one narrow aspect of the Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security certificate and would be offered by the computer science department.

Cap retention rates on the rise

By Laura Camper - General Assignment Reporter

In August 2001, University of Illinois at Springfield welcomed its first class of freshmen to campus.  The 116 members of the new Capital Scholars program arrived ready to face the challenges of the honor program, but four years later in May 2005 only 51 graduated with their class.
“Retention rates don’t mean much for the first six or seven years… because the program is still evolving and developing,” says Terry Bodenhorn, director of Capital Scholars.  That first year, the faculty, the administration and the students were getting used to the program.  “It was a learning curve.”
The numbers can also be misleading according to Bodenhorn, because some students left the program, but continued as a student of UIS.  And still others graduated as Cap Scholars in December 2005.
            “The average retaining rate over four years (for Freshman to Sophomore year) seems to be running at about 84 percent,” he says.  And that is “almost exactly even,” with similar programs at other universities.  “I’m pretty pleased with 84 percent.”
There are many reasons students leave a university program, Bodenhorn explains.  The college may not be a good fit.  The student may not be ready to be away from home.  There may be family issues.
  In order to help those students who have a hard time adjusting to college life, UIS is now offering a mentoring program that pairs experienced Cap Scholars with new freshmen.  The mentor gives advice on everything from time management to dealing with roommate squabbles to coping with being away from home.
Some Cap Scholars left for those reasons, but others left for reasons specific to the Cap Scholar program.  The original Cap Scholar Honor program was designed for two years. Some students, who attended specifically for the honor program, left after completing that portion and transferred to other universities.  In Fall 2006, the honor program will extend to all four years, making it more attractive to students who enjoy the specific challenges an honor program provides.
UIS also began a tutoring program, which has been heavily used, to help students having difficulties in specific classes.  The professors can refer a student or a student can contact the office personally. 
Bodenhorn says having support services like these in place is helping to improve the retention rate over time.  “Support programs make the difference in an honors program,” says Bodenhorn.  “UIS has done a good job keeping those resources available.”

SGA plans to draft a student bill of rights

A day in the life of an R.A.

UIS to offer grad certificate in homeland security studies

CAP retention rates on the rise