A new online poll asks students one question: “If you had unlimited funds, what is one thing you would change at Northwestern?”
The poll, called the “Campus Brainstorm,” opened Sunday night. It marks the start of the Undergraduate Budget Priorities Committee’s drive to collect ideas for its annual February proposal to the administration for student life funding.
Weinberg junior Janna Kaplan, who sits on the UBPC, said she was already impressed with the response. “It’s such a range from little things to really big ideas,” she said.
With eight members, the student committee is small, but it includes ASG President Claire Lew and others with connections that span the spectrum of student groups. In past years, the UBPC has had a hand in bringing A&O Productions’ Blowout concert to Welsh-Ryan Arena, improving cell phone reception in Norris and starting the weekend express shuttle to Chicago.
As its next step, the committee will hold an open forum in Norris for students to talk about the upcoming proposal. The forum is scheduled for Nov. 19 from 1 to 4 p.m.
“It’s going to be a real informal setting where we can actually have a conversation,” Kaplan said. Students will be able to show up and leave as they please.
The UBPC will include last year’s unfinished plans — in addition to responses from this survey and the open meetings — in an in-depth survey it will release online in January. Last January’s survey received “thousands” of student responses, said Weinberg senior Anil Wadhwani, UBPC chair.
Wadhwani said the committee’s proposal will focus on student services, facilities and academic programs — but he declined to mention specifics.
“It’s still very early for us to say what will be on our list this year, so we’re really looking for input,” he said.
The UBPC did name three long-term goals in a May press release, however — working for a new student center, establishing an office for undergraduate research and studying how the university might fund living wages.
Editor’s note: Anil Wadhwani contributed to North by Northwestern in October 2008.