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SGA president petitions legislature for voting access By CASSIE CONLEY Beat Reporter
SGA president Alex Martin is lobbying state legislators to approve a bill making the student representative on Tech’s inaugural board of trustees a voting position. Martin said he contacted area representatives and plans to meet with others at the state capitol in Nashville. Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, is the only representative who did not return his call, he said. “I believe we have the support in the Senate head committee. I also believe we have support in the house education committee. The only place we are most concerned is on the house floor,” Martin said. Tech is one of six universities implementing a board of trustees under Gov. Bill Haslam’s Focus
on College a n d University Success Act. The act Martin is designed to give universities increased autonomy and local control to improve educational goals. Each board has nine voting members and one nonvoting student trustee. University President Phil Oldham said he believes Haslam made it a nonvoting position because the position is only a one-year term, and there is a “significant learning curve on getting up to speed on the issues.” Martin said he wrote most of the bill himself with help from Kara Gilliam, student body president at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, through the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature. The bill -- HB343
and SB276 -- proposes a change from a nonvoting to voting member, and is currently being considered by a subcommittee in both houses. Martin said the other four governing bodies for state schools each have a student as a voting board member. Those consist of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation, Tennessee Board of Regents and University of Tennessee. Oldham said he was “impressed” that a “student will be at the table when all these issues come up and are discussed.” “It’s important a student has that voice … the opportunity to sway others on the board. Students have a huge impact on government,” Oldham said. EDITOR’S NOTE: Students in JOUR 4820 contributed to this report.
Reporters file open records request for final vote numbers on SGA preferred student board nominee By CASSIE CONLEY Beat Reporter An Oracle reporter filed an open records request Wednesday seeking the results of a “secret” vote on the SGA’s preference of three nominees for the nonvoting student member of Tech’s board of trustees. The written request followed separate verbal requests that raised questions on whether SGA president Alex Martin or a representative from the president’s office has the authority to release that information. Martin referred the reporter to Terri Taylor, assistant to the president, saying he wasn’t comfortable releasing the information. “I didn’t release those because I just
didn’t think it was necessary and the reason I say that is because I reported those to Terri at the president’s office and she’ll release it,” Martin said. Taylor declined a verbal request, saying it was Martin’s right to release the information. “That is a student senate vote and I do not feel comfortable releasing the votes of the students.” she said. After a written request was filed, Taylor said she did not have the “official” vote. “I only have an email transmission, which is not official,” Taylor said. “Alex Martin has the official vote.” Oracle Managing Editor Haylee Eaton said she believes students have a right to know the results of the vote because students elected the SGA mem-
bers to represent them. “We should know how they are voting on our behalf,” Eaton said. “We can access the votes on the Tennessee General Assembly website and see how our state representatives voted on any bill. How is this different from our student representatives?” Under the state’s open record law, Martin and Taylor have six business days in which to respond to official request. Martin told another reporter Friday that he plans to address the request during Tuesday’s SGA meeting. Student journalists also attempted to contact President Phil Oldham last week, but he did not immediately return messages left via telephone or on social media. EDITOR’S NOTE: Students in JOUR 4820 contributed to this report.
Oldham discusses construction at chat By LAUREN BRABSTON & LACEY RENFRO Beat Reporters President Phil Oldham said Tuesday workers expect to break ground on the new fitness center in April, and he promised to find another purpose for the current facility. The construction process is expected to take two years, giving officials time to decide how to repurpose the fitness center. Eva Dingwall | The Oracle Oldham said he is considering what programs will utilize the fa- CHAT - Tech President, Phillip Oldham, fielded a variety of questions cilities’ amenities the most. asked at the Chat With The President in the Tech Pride Room Thursday. “There are two major functions that clearly represent the cerns about campus parking, as- the science building and the new building that would be exercise suring students police do not give fit,” Martin said. science and to fill the building parking tickets just to raise money. “People paid it forward for with needed necessities,” Oldham “We want an orderly opportu- you to benefit from it now, and we said. nity for everyone to access park- are going to do the same thing for Oldham discussed campus ing,” Oldham said. students.” construction projects during dead University Police director Oldham said he began Chat hour in the Tech Pride Room at Tony Nelson supported Oldham’s with the President in September Chat with the President. About statement. 2013 to improve overall communi140 people attended the event, one “Over 1,300 parking citations cation on campus. of the largest attended in recent have been written so far this se“Sixty percent I want to hear years, Associate Vice President mester. We are doing everything from everyone else and hear their Karen Lykens said. we can to enforce the safety of stu- concerns. It is important for me to Oldham said plans for a new dents on campus,” he said. continually reconnect and to rescience building involve breaking SGA President Alex Martin calibrate where I can connect the ground this fall. also addressed concerns about dots,” Oldham said. Partial reopening of the Jere certain fee increases and parking “The other 40 percent is me Whitson building is expected in issues. having the opportunity to share April with final completion next “There is going to be students with the campus what is going on semester, he said. in the room 20 to 50 years from to where I can put things in my Oldham also addressed con- now that are going to benefit from own words.”
Eva Dingwall | The Oracle CHAT - President Oldham answers a question posed by James Alexander, instructional technology specialist in the Innovation Technology Institute at Tech, about administrative representation at Chat With The President Thursday.
Creative Inquiry Summer Experience releases applications for 2017 By ASA COSTELLO & HAYDEN WHITE Beat Reporters Undergraduate students at Tech interested in developing research and creative inquiry skills can apply for the Creative Inquiry Summer Experience internship and a grant of $3,500-$4,000 to complete a project within Read More Online
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their field of study. The grant helps pay for equipment, materials, travel and board expenses, and anything else a student may need to complete the project. The application is due by 4:30 p.m. Friday and must be emailed to Ed Lisic, the director of undergraduate research. The program is open to all majors. Students can download the PDF applica-
CONTACT:
tion from the office of creative inquiry’s tab on Tech’s website. A professor or faculty member chosen to supervise the student’s project also must fill out a portion of the application. A creative inquiry project involves using creative thinking and problem-solving to form questions about subjects and ideas to research and resolve.
Working on projects like this can improve students’ skills in creative and criticalthinking, problem-solving, and communication, according to Tech’s office of creative inquiry website. “Students immediate benefits allow them to work and gain experience in their field of study during the summer,” Lisic said, “The long-term benefits allow the student to gain
professional experience and use the finished research for their resume,” He said 30 students participated in CISE the previous summer with interest areas in art, music, English, chemistry, business, engineering and interdisciplinary studies. See “Creative Inquiry” >> Page 2
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