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Syracuse University’s Student Association launched an anonymous platform for students to report campus problems and concerns to SA at its meeting Monday.

Students can respond to topics including food services, housing, academics and accessibility through the new form, said Will Treloar, SA speaker of the assembly. The platform allows students to upload photos and testimonials with their reports, which Treloar said will increase pressure for university administrators to address student concerns.

“When you see something recorded, the more testimonials we gain, the better our advocacy can be,” Treloar said. “Imagine what we get with a thousand student reports. Admin will be forced to respond.”

Treloar said SA will use reports submitted to the form to raise new issues and represent concerns widely held among the student body to university administration.

“We’re going to show (administration) just how many students face these issues through rolling out this form and over the next few months collecting responses on everything,” Treloar said.

Treloar said the form will become available to students on Tuesday through SA’s Instagram page. The form will also be released to the student body in a mass email later in the week. Treloar said the form asks for students’ ID number and name, but that information will not be attached to students’ responses.

The success of last year’s Dining Petition Form inspired SA to use surveys for more initiatives, Treloar said.

“Immediately after (the form) we saw the creation of (the Food Service Advisory Committee),” Treloar said, “We realized that if that was what was effective, it’ll be effective in a few other areas as well.”

Lewis said a survey to collect data on mental health on campus will be released later this year. This survey will be used to discuss possible solutions to current problems with the Barnes Center at The Arch’s mental health resources with admin next semester.

“A recurring theme you see here is surveys,” said Malique Lewis, vice president of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. “Surveys are great, because administration thinks that … we’re not really telling the full truth, and that can cut them out of work. So surveys are super, super vital for them.”

SA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Committee is currently drafting another survey to “gain insight into the climate on campus,” Lewis added. Treloar said surveys have provided meaningful data that the university is more likely to listen to and address.

“It’s just about where we utilize our resources to apply pressure so that the university is forced to act,” Treloar said.

Other Business:

SA’s Vice President Adia Santos will now also serve on the University Senate, the assembly concluded.

SA Board of Elections Chair Otto Sutton reminded attendees that SA elections will be held this week and encouraged all students to vote. Polls for voting close Friday.

Lewis said that the Muslim Student Association is advocating for “privatized pool hours due to religious concerns.”

Published on October 4, 2022 at 2:02 am

Contact Sydney: srrothst@syr.edu