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by Joshua Lawton - The Metropolitan
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| Interim President Ray Kieft responds to questions
from students and faculty during an online chat sponsored by Student
Activities in the Student Activities office in the Tivoli Dec.
2. The online discussion was open for nearly an hour. |
Student Activities conducted a live chat with Metro’s Interim
President Ray Kieft on Dec. 2 where students posted questions concerning
Metro and the Auraria campus.
“It’s a learning experience for me. I’m sure questions
will come to me that probably wouldn’t come to me in any other
way,” Kieft said. “It helps me better understand the pulse
of the student body.”
Kieft answered 30 questions during the hour-long chat, including
many concerning the responsibilities of the Auraria Higher Education
Center such as parking, restoration of the Tivoli and designated smoking
areas.
Wages for student work in comparison to the cost of living also were
a concern for students.
Kieft responded, “Financial aid is something we care about and
are working with the CCHE to increase. In fact, we support the request
before the Colorado Legislature for increased financial aid for students.”
Students unsure about the continuance of particular programs brought
up budget cuts.
“If there are better ways to do things and better avenues to
increase quality and the experiences for students, then we shouldn’t
be reluctant to make changes,” Kieft said.
One student expressed discontent with some professors, and asked,
“don’t our evaluations mean anything?”
“(Student Evaluations) are reviewed by department chairs, deans,
the vice president and myself,” Kieft answered. “If there
are problems with a particular faculty member, there is a process
and set of procedures for bringing this to the attention of the proper
people.”
Kieft expressed enthusiasm in being able to connect to students:
“I think it’s a slick way of getting in touch.”
Metro senior Brandon Smith designed the software used to perform
the chat.
Named MICE (Metro Internet Chat Event), the software is run off a
Java based server that allows for submission moderation that answers
questions on an html page.
“Its purpose is built for interviewing one person,” Smith
said.
Currently, there is no software like MICE on the market.
Kieft’s chat was the first to be done with MICE.
“We wanted to see how it works,” Student Activities Director
Zav Dadabhoy said.
Student Activities hopes MICE will make communication easier for
everyone and plans to use the program for future events.
“If the system works, we could do it with any person around
the world,” Dadabhoy said.
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