CAMPUS NEWS
Communication gap divides senate, students
by Yama Lake

WCC’s student senate can only be as effective as the student body that supports it.

In a recent interview, student senators looked back on that as one of the lessons of the past year and toward new directions in governance.

“Communication between students and student government was not happening. I joined student government to change that,” said Sharolyn Copeland, one of three original WCC student senators voted into office by students last spring.

Another election this past fall and direct recruitment brought the senate population 15 members. Since the beginning of the school year, the senate is down to six.

“It’s not unusual at a community college to have attrition over the summer. People’s life plans change, they don’t come back, they transfer or they go elsewhere,” said Sandy Matsui, the interim senate advisor.

WCC students are a diverse group and have chosen Windward over other colleges for reasons ranging from cost and convenience to campus size. Although their reasons vary, students all have busy lives outside of school.

Is it any wonder that when classes are finished, the first place a WCC student heads for is not a campus function but their car? This is the reality of what community college students face, and one of the main challenges for a student senate trying to plan and promote activities.

Another challenge to senate-student relations is that the WCC senate is working without compensation. “Other campuses receive stipend or tuition waivers. WCC is totally dependent on student volunteers,” Matsui said.

While many of the clubs maintain permanent advisers, the WCC student senate has been without a staff person for nearly a year. Matsui, who is the dean of students, must focus on her primary job and is unable to devote her full attention to the senate.

The problem with hiring an adviser is finding someone who will take a part-time position without benefits. The most difficult part is finding someone who is qualified. According to Matsui, hiring the wrong person “can create more havoc than it can good.”

In the fall semester, WCC student senate president Chelsea Moritomo appealed to the student body through Ka ‘Ohana to get involved with senate activities. Turnout at student senate functions has not improved.

“The feedback I get from students is (the senate) planned this activity, but no one was there,” said Copeland. Although publicity is an admitted problem, Copeland said she must “be careful on publicity because (of being) unsure of the information.”

“Students are concerned. They ask, ‘What is our student senate doing?’ and I sometimes don’t have answers. I tell them our meetings are every Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in ‘Akoakoa. The door is open for everyone to come to the meeting.”

At the April 1 meeting, senator Keoholani Myers told of an experience she had during an English class with student feedback. “I felt like I was being attacked,” she said. “The list (game room and lounge hours) is out there for when we’re going to be there, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to be there. Things happen.”

Recently, the senate received some positive news concerning the lounge and game rooms. A STAAR staffer will be keeping the ‘Akoakoa facilities open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Events supported by the WCC student senate can be found on myUHportal’s student calendar and at the ‘Akoakoa bookstore as well as fliers and the student newspaper. However, for a busy student body, hunting for information on activities is not always the most viable option.

When asked to address some of the weaknesses of their administration, some senators pinpointed communication and unfocused leadership.

Developing student leadership is one of the main objectives of the senate constitution. This year, the senate has attended a leadership conference in ‘Ewa and one on the Big Island.
The goal of the conferences is to learn leadership and communication skills. Ironically, the senate members said these skills are both major accomplishments and areas to improve.

“I think one of their accomplishments was that they formally established the Interclub Council so that there are more bodies of students formally established that can take part in leadership,” said Matsui. A student activities board is also in the development stages.

The purpose for adding these bodies is to allow the senate to focus on student governance instead of student activities, but more student participation is needed for such goals to see fruition.

Matsui added, “The role of student government (is) working with the college administration to make sure the students are represented and have an active part in (decision-making as well as) creating the avenues to allow that to happen.”