In the first of two town hall meetings, University President Lee Bollinger and Provost Nancy Cantor met with students on North Campus yesterday to explore issues relating to student life at the University.
About 50 people filled the Chrysler Center of the Media Union to offer University administration officials the North Campus perspective on student life.
Participants expressed their appreciation for the meeting's location, because it gave them an opportunity to express their views about transforming North Campus into a more student-friendly part of the University.
"There is sense of physical fragmentation of the campus which leads to intellectual fragmentation and social fragmentation," Bollinger said.
Students also asked questions about general problems facing the University community.
One audience member suggested that Bollinger create a North Campus presidential office that he would occupy for a few days each week, in order to bring a more human feel to the North Campus area.
Bollinger said he considered the idea and believes that the division of the University into various campus locations, such as North and Central campus, affects its sense of continuity.
Bollinger went on to share his ideas about how North Campus could shape itself into a thriving section of the University environment.
"One idea that seems most promising is to create some sense of internal community," he said, adding that establishing private developments such as restaurants and theaters could make the campus more student friendly.
He also discussed his concern about the ability of North Campus to satisfy basic student needs.
"We have an image of people hunkering around the campus looking for food," Bollinger said.
Cantor said University administrators are presently addressing other North Campus problems such as security and transportation issues.
The forum also addressed the significance of interdisciplinary work between professors that can often be hampered by the distance between the campuses.
Cantor said the administration are recognizes this problem and currently is working with department officials to facilitate faculty communication.
"Both the president and I spend time talking to deans on campus about the need for collaboration," Cantor said.
Bollinger said smaller universities generally have more interdisciplinary work, but the University is a pleasant exception to this trend.
"The greatness of the University of Michigan has been heavily dependent on interdisciplinary work," he said.
The town meeting did not only focus on North Campus issues.
LSA senior Jordan Berke asked Bollinger about the University's relationship with Nike and the contract with the company, which will be reassessed in the year 2000.
Berke said the University's handling of this relationship is now especially meaningful in light of the recent hockey championship, which further established the Michigan Athletic Department as one of the nation's leaders.
Bollinger said the Nike debate is important to the University administration.
"The provost and I have spoken with the athletic director, Tom Goss. We've had conversations about this issue. It is Tom's principle responsibility to be thinking and working on this," Bollinger said.
He said the administration has full confidence in Goss' ability to address the Nike contract.
04-07-98
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