On Monday, March 4, I was invited to one of more than 25 focus groups at the Ralph B. Draughon library hosted by the Office of the Provost.
A far cry from typical focus groups that seek opinions on products or national trends, this 90-minute session sought to gather input for the strategic plan of the University for 2013-18.
There was only one other student participant beside me, with the rest of the 8-person discussion panel made up of various faculty members and employees.
Four categories were labeled on a whiteboard as to what the University should start, stop, have more of and have less of.
Faculty members said that the University should start having more endowed chairs within departments, recruiting National Science Fellows, start University-level mentoring programs and closely monitor the cost of attending Auburn, perhaps by re-evaluating the student financing system.
Opinions of what the University should stop included the mandatory dining plan and a reform of human resources to alleviate staff disciplinary issues.
I chimed in that the University should definitely have more skill based/active learning that gets students outside the classroom, while others touched on the topics of increased diversity, distance learning/online courses, required internships, increased updating of campus facilities and extending outreach.
Discussion of what the University should have less of centered around administrators/middle men and new centers and institutes that seem to be redundant in duties rather than extensions of a department.
One of the larger issues discussed toward the end was the future income of the University. With maximum enrollment set by the Board of Trustees at 25,000 students, faculty and staff at the meeting were concerned that Auburn will not receive enough income from tuition compared to growing schools such as the University of Alabama. This problem is in addition to diminishing state and federal funding for public research universities,
Members of the group expressed concern that the growing competitiveness of attending Auburn University has left many legacies excluded, therefore also decreasing private donations from alumni that feel mistreated.
In June, the strategic plan will be finalized by President Gogue and the Board of Trustees before going into effect Friday, June 21.
I want to highly encourage the University to continue seeking student, faculty and employee input for large decisions such as this by utilizing focus groups and online surveys.
Not only was the session informative and interesting, but I felt that concerns I shared were heard and treated with legitimacy instead of being brushed off because of my student status.
After all, the "Loveliest Village on the Plains" is comprised of people, not numbers and bottom lines.
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