The Division of Student Affairs’ new Student Advisory Board is an original initiative that has charged students with the responsibility of relaying their experiences to the administration. At the moment there isn’t a way for students to get in touch with these representatives. The advisory board should create clear channels of communication, as these members are supposed to represent the interests of the student body.

The Student Advisory Board is made up of 32 undergraduate and graduate students who either applied for their positions or were nominated by Student Association or the Graduate Student Organization. So far the group has met with Senior Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz three times this semester, and it has discussed a range of topics, including how best to reach students, plans for the future of the Carrier Dome and alcohol use on campus. The group will continue to have bi-weekly meetings on Fridays for the duration of the semester.

At the moment these meetings are closed, but GSO president Patrick Neary, said it is likely the meetings will be open in the future. The group should make the meetings open at the earliest possibility. While it’s commendable that the administration is actively seeking student input, the group may not accurately represent the student body because the representatives were selected by the administration, rather than elected by the student body.

In addition to making these meetings open, the Student Advisory Board should also make it known how students can get in touch with its members to voice concerns. The representatives have a direct line of communication with administrators and they shouldn’t take that for granted. The representatives should not be exclusively conveying their own concerns, but should be helping to relay the concerns of all students at SU.

At the moment the group is nearly non-existent online and has no social media presence to speak of. The group should create a website listing the student representatives and the best ways to contact those individuals. Having a webpage or public contact email to welcome student input is a necessity for this group. And such details should not be hard to come by.

While the Student Advisory Board is not a group of action, but one of communication, it should still be accountable to the student population that it represents.