University Star

Five students attended University President Denise Trauth’s Open Door session Monday to discuss topics ranging from extending library service hours to future construction outside of dorms.  

The sessions are typically held once per semester in Trauth’s office at J.C. Kellam. Monday’s additional session was held in the LBJ Center for the sake of convenience. Open Door sessions are an opportunity for students to express concerns, opinions and ideas on university affairs to the institution’s highest ranking administrator and can be attended by anyone interested.

Joanne Smith, vice president of Student Affairs, joined Trauth for the session. Each student who attended spoke with the administrators individually.

David Acosta, accounting junior, is a senator for the Associated Student Government. Acosta said he attended the session to speak with Trauth about possibly extending the service hours at Alkek Library. He discussed the future of greek life with the administrators.

“I found out that a couple of universities around the area have 24-hour (library) services throughout the week,” Acosta said. “I believe that if we’re trying to be this rising star, then it’s crucial that we have these library hours extended.”

Acosta said the administrators told him the library services are something they have researched in the past. He said the administrators’ feedback regarding both issues was positive.

“I was a little nervous at first,” Acosta said. “(Trauth and Smith) are not as intimidating as they seem, though. We really compromised on a lot of the stuff, and I definitely left the room more confident in my ideas.”

Kristi Belcher, computer science freshman, met with Trauth to discuss the traffic caused by construction blockades outside of Blanco Hall. She said the road behind her dorm is barricaded even though construction has yet to begin.

Belcher suggested to Trauth that the signs blocking the road be taken down until the construction begins.

“Cars would actually be able to drive back there, and people could drop or pick things up,” Belcher said. “It would just be a convenience on top of all the other burdens they have for the Blanco residents.”

Other students attended the session purely to discuss their experience at Texas State thus far.
“Several students just came by to introduce themselves, and I think that’s great,” Trauth said. “I don’t want to be intimidating. That can be a barrier.”

Ethan Becker, music freshman, said he met with Trauth to introduce himself and speak with her one-on-one.
Kayleigh Soukup, exploratory freshman, attended the session to talk to the administrators about what she should major in and which student organizations to join.

Both administrators agreed that students often do not know what resources on campus they should use, and it’s nice to share them with students like Soukup.

Soukup said she could see herself coming back to an Open Door session if she wished to speak about an issue in the future.

Trauth said it is important to her to create an environment in which students feel empowered. She said if students have an issue then they should be able to go and talk to someone about it.

“It’s good to direct them in their paths and to give answers for the questions they may have,” Smith said.