Eastern President Bill Perry hosted a question and answer session with about two dozen students at 7th Street Underground, Wednesday.

The Q&A was an effort by Perry to connect with Eastern students and hear their thoughts on how to improve the university.

When asked about his goals as president, Perry said he hopes to raise philanthropic giving, enhance academic quality, increase the quality of facilities and continue to build relationships with the community and the state.

“I think strategically, what we need to do is position Eastern in the minds of the students as a university where students can get a quality, personal education,” he said.

In regards to the school’s First Choice Program Initiative, Perry said it is very rare for all of a school’s programs to be first ranked, but the key is to play up the university’s strengths.

“We have to be as strong in as many programs as we can,” he said. “And when we’re strong, we’ve got to let people know we’re strong.”

With the Doudna Fine Arts Center on the verge of completion and the potential for new businesses coming to Charleston, Perry hopes Eastern can maintain its intimate, small town charm by keeping enrollment at around 12,000.

“I want enrollment to stay where it is,” Perry said. “I think 12,000 is about right for the facilities we have, and the size of the faculty.”

Perry said he expects transfer student enrollment to grow due to the affordability of community colleges.

Projects such as the proposed FutureGen plant in Mattoon are what will ultimately cause the community to evolve, he said.

When asked about Eastern courses being taught by graduate students, Perry said many of the students in teaching roles are on their way to becoming community college instructors and that classroom experience played a vital role in their choosing Eastern for graduate school.

“Graduate students who are in that role are closely advised by and mentored by faculty,” Perry said.

Classes taught by graduate students account for about one and a half percent of the school’s curriculum, Perry said, later adding he wouldn’t want that figure to rise higher than three or four percent.

Students also expressed concern about the lack of school spirit on campus. He said that a large marquee or sign has been considered, so that students can know what’s happening on campus.

The solution may lie in finding out what exactly Eastern students are excited about, and then acting on it.

“What we do has to match up with the DNA of the university,” Perry said.

Perry told the students that he hopes to be remembered as a president who placed the students above all else.

“I want my legacy to be that I was a president who cared about the students, and the student experience,” he said.

Sophomore psychology major Jerrion Shell found Perry to be open with the students, as well as receptive to their ideas.

“It’s clear he has a viable interest in the university,” said Jonathan Mattson, a senior communication studies major. “Not everyone would have done what he did, encouraging the students to get involved.”