If your friends are tired of hearing you rant and rave about everything from shuttle service to the social scene, you can reassure them that they're finally off the hook. There is a new way for students to voice complaints, opinions, and ideas about campus issues: the Tufts Community Union (TCU) e-mail forum.
In an e-mail sent to all students last Tuesday, the TCU introduced a new listserve option that will serve as an online forum for student discussion. Students can type an idea or concern on any issue and send it to the senators and other students on the e-mail list. The listserve is for students only - no administration or faculty members will view or respond to the e-mails. Students can receive responses as they come in, or they can choose the "digest" option and receive one or two e-mails that contain all the others from that day.
In last Tuesday's e-mail, the TCU stated that the online forum "will allow your elected representatives to understand what you feel needs to be better addressed here at Tufts."
The e-mail forum is the pet project of TCU Vice President and junior Melissa Carson.
"My goal was for students to be able to talk with each other about ideas and for the Senate to have a more effective means of outreach and intake; they can put ideas out there and also gather ideas," Carson said.
"It was hard to convince the administration to do it. Their condition was that I moderate the forum, which was convenient because my condition was that there would be no administration involved. They didn't want another Brian's Rumors Daily," she said. There is a set of rules for all students who sign up for the listserve, so that the discussion doesn't turn into a series of personal attacks.
"We've always had forums on issues like race and sexual harassment in Hotung, but I see the same people there every time," former senator, sophomore Pritesh Gandhi said. "This will foster more participation, and it's more efficient - people can respond from the privacy of their dorm rooms. People who we don't usually hear from are writing, which is great."
Issues discussed include off-campus housing, the new Joseph's shuttle services, distribution of information about speakers on campus, and the possibility of creating more signs in Davis Square to deal with safety concerns.
After the recent fire on Capen St., Carson brought up the idea of fire inspections for Tufts students living in off-campus apartments. She proposed that the Office of Off-Campus Housing set up a deal with fire marshals to get local apartments inspected. Carson said that feedback was generally positive, although respondents agreed that the University should not have to spend money on the project.
There are currently 200 subscribers to the TCU e-mail listserve - 100 people signed up on the first day it was offered. The forum has attracted between five and seven student responses for each issue brought up thus far. According to Carson, there's a good balance of students from different graduating classes, and people involved in a variety of campus groups are also represented.
Carson said that the structure of the forum is fine for now, and that extensions of the project will be discussed as the subscriber list grows.
Students who signed up for the listserve and submitted opinions have expressed satisfaction with the online forum.
Junior Randi Wiggins responded to one of the changes in the shuttle schedule, which would have postponed the start of weekend service from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Wiggins voiced a concern about religious students who use the shuttle on their way to church, and was almost immediately contacted by Gandhi, who had the weekend schedule changed back to its original 10 a.m. start. Wiggins, who wasn't sure how responsive the system would be, was pleasantly surprised.
"I felt really empowered; I raised an opinion and [TCU] responded to it," he said. "It's a long-overdue form of communication between the TCU and students. I've been reading it every day, and I would definitely use it again if I had a strong opinion about something."
Wiggins, a member of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience at Tufts, believes a similar forum could be useful for her group as well. "It's a really powerful method for change, in a positive way," she said.
Some students are less enthusiastic about the online setup of the forum. Sophomore Rachel Jervis said she received and read the introductory e-mail from the TCU, but hasn't signed up for the listserve.
"I just don't want any more mass e-mails," she said.
"It's not a bad idea, but I don't think people will read it regularly if it doesn't pertain to them," junior Pete Berkowitz said. He also did not sign up for the listserve. "E-mail isn't the best way [to have this type of discussion] - it will just crowd my inbox."
But Carson says that most people signed up for the list in digest form, so while some of the replies take 24 hours to pick up, they are "not overwhelming anyone." Carson said she has also received no complaints from students who signed up for the individual e-mails option.
Students like Wiggins and junior Gerard Balan, who have tried the TCU forum, believe it will accomplish its goal of augmenting the connection between senators and students.
"Before, the Senate had office hours that I never went to," Balan said. "This is easier and more convenient," Balan said.
