Student Forum is among the most important student groups on campus, allowing elected students to represent their Advisement class in vital policy decisions from dance themes to ASB Elections. Although it’s not a perfect system, Student Forum plays a critical role in campus life, giving valuable student feedback to administration and student leaders.
Student Forum is composed of two elected representatives from each Advisement, 196 students total, and is overseen by Student Forum president senior Neil Godse. After a monthly meeting to gather feedback on ASB events and policy changes, the representatives relay the information back to their Advisements, a crucial part of keeping the student body informed and an opportunity for students to play a role in shaping events on campus.
“This is your place to have a voice; this is a place to make yourself heard,” activities director Jennifer Petrosian said. “Student Forum is super dependent on your Advisement; some Advisements had to run elections to see who would get positions. It is a really good representation of kids all over the range.”
Forum provides a variety of students from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to help make important decisions. There is no other organization on campus that gets this many students together with the goal of advising school governance, making Student Forum’s role at school indispensable.
While much can be said about the democratic spirit at the heart of Student Forum, communication about the impact of their feedback solicited could be improved. Representatives receive limited follow up on how their feedback is incorporated into the decision making process.
“We have a lot of input on events, but it’s kind of hard to see that being executed,” Student Forum representative sophomore Sophia Paredes said. “I see that they’re making the effort to hear our voices.”
A simple solution would be for the Student Forum president to simply recap how past feedback influenced the shape of events at the start of each meeting. Closing that loop with a brief explanation would allow for Forum members to see even the subtle ways that their input shapes campus events, and contribute to a sense of accomplishment. This simple change in perception could reverberate into increased motivation, engaging the student population even more.
Despite this small area of improvement, Forum is an invaluable part of the Northwood campus. Students who are interested in participating should run in their next Advisement election, which will happen next Fall. Students can also get involved by running for ASB positions when elections are held in the Spring.
“Student Forum is really fun, and I think it’s useful, especially for school spirit,” Student Forum representative senior Kevin Monzon said. “It’s good for the health of our school.”
