Chancellor Sean O’Keefe takes his coffee black.
Students met with the chancellor at the first Chat with the Chancellor off campus Tuesday at CC’s Coffee and discussed campus concerns over lattes and frappes.
SG sponsored the event where students discussed concerns about student-professor relationships, the “Welcome to the Now “campaign, class sizes and the condition of buildings on campus. About 10 students attended the laid-back conversational meeting.
Amber Fontenot, finance freshman, said she went to Chat with the Chancellor because she wanted to meet the chancellor and wanted to “just get to know him better.” She asked O’Keefe how his life was and said she did not really have any pressing questions.
Fontenot said she wanted to know “what is up” with the “Welcome to the Now” campaign and mentioned that she has joked about the “then” versus the “now.”
O’Keefe chuckled at the mention of the marketing campaign the University launched last month.
O’Keefe said the marketing department “test drove” the idea of the campaign and was excited about the concept before it launched.
“But they didn’t test drive it far enough,” O’Keefe said.
O’Keefe explained the campaign created debate on campus about how the University should be promoted.
Fontenot then asked O’Keefe what his favorite joke is. O’Keefe asked Fontenot what hers was while he thought about it.
Fontenot started her joke with “this is kind of stupid.”
O’Keefe responded, “kind of like Evo Devo.”
Maria DeLouise, education technology graduate student, asked O’Keefe what he thought about the large class sizes in freshmen level courses.
DeLouise said she has three children in college, and her youngest son is a freshman. DeLouise explained she hears complaints about the large courses and the lack of one-on-one attention.
O’Keefe said he had a bias against large classrooms because he attended schools with small classes.
He said there are studies, however, that suggest teaching in large classrooms for subjects like math and science can be conducive to learning.
DeLouise said she wasn’t going to argue with the chancellor but still thinks there are problems with the large classes.
Another student voiced concern about the condition of the Electrical Engineering Building.
O’Keefe said he is going to look into the concerns voiced about the building and said the University is looking into private funding to repair and build new facilities.
One student voiced concerns about how conflicts between students and professors are resolved.
O’Keefe explained the best means of resolving conflicts is to talk to the chair of the department when the disagreement arises. If the problem is not resolved, O’Keefe suggests going to the dean of the college.
O’Keefe told students in attendance to write letters about issues that concern them and to voice concern to the dean or department heads.
Student Government President Michelle Gieg said the off-campus Chat with the Chancellor allowed students with more serious questions to talk to the chancellor.
Gieg said the setting was more intimate, and she thought it added diversity to SG programming.
 
Contact Ginger Gibson at [email protected]