On Sept. 29, The University of New Hampshire Student Senate, as well as University President Elizabeth Chilton, spoke about on-campus issues that concern students the most.
Many of these issues included student life, including tuition and safety. The Student Senate invited President Chilton so that she could comment about how she is planning to better the lives of students at UNH.
The student senate began their questions about campus safety. Chilton stated that she had no concerns, claiming she was pleased with the “vibe” on campus.
In explaining why she feels UNH is a safe place, Chilton said that all around campus, people will leave their belongings unattended, trusting their items will be there when they get back. She said, “The campus seems to trust each other.”
When asked by someone in attendance about the budget at UNH, Chilton said, “The budget is all set,” She added, “we are being very ‘strategic’ in the budget and leaning heavily into philanthropy.” This question was brought up after students and their families have voiced concerns about budgeting and campus cutbacks in recent years.
The meeting also touched on how the University of New Hampshire is one of the highest-cost public universities in the United States. Chilton said she understands the high tuition costs, explaining how UNH relies heavily on tuition costs to help the school run sufficiently.
Chilton was also asked more about her current and future involvement on campus. She spoke about how she not only wants to get more involved in campus life but how she also wants to speak to more current student organizations in the future. She stresses the importance of “promoting a model of leadership on campus.”
“Seeing leaders as real people can make people see themselves as [leaders themselves],” said Chilton.
Chilton said that her overall goal is to better the communication between faculty and students as well as all communications within faculty. “Internal communication needs to be stronger,” said Chilton.
Her goal now is to transparently fund the budget. She spoke about going to each college and each administration to hopefully attempt to get an equal amount of funding allocated to each of the colleges.
Student senate meetings are held every Sunday evening at 6 p.m. in Paul College.