Workgroup no. 1, focused on student services, agreed on recommendations for its report after asking for a weeklong extension.

Rick Roberts, the workgroup chair, said Angela Vietto, an English professor and workgroup member, will type up the recommendations they decided on.

Eric Davidson, the interim director of health services and workgroup member, was not in attendance but will write up his methodologies used for creating the survey that members used to help support their recommendations, Roberts said.

The survey, which was sent out several weeks ago, asked for student input regarding what they thought about student services, what should be changed or what was good about them.

There were two parts to the survey that garnered two sections of data that Roberts said support what the group is doing.

The first section focused on the “qualitative” data about student services and the other focused on the “quantitative” data

Roberts read a quote written by a student from one of the surveys and that quote summed up what members concluded in its recommendations.

The quote asked the workgroup to keep and maintain student services such as textbook rental, career and academic counseling and counseling.

Roberts said the group could maybe use some of the things mentioned in the survey for their report because students used words like restructure, more specifically for the safety of students, which they are supporting as part of the “serve UPD charge” given to the group.

Roberts also said one student thought career services needs help badly.

“Overall, all of student services needs to be, what (the students) call very defined, easily accessible (and) in an easy to read map of where to go,” Roberts said. “I think that’s exactly at the heart of our message is that student services needs to be reorganized, if possible centralized.”

Members agreed with what was said in the surveys, and Heidi Hawkins, the assistant University Budget Officer and workgroup member, said she noticed the positive feedback within the comments.

Hawkins said some of the comments suggested that there was nothing to improve with student services and that students were happy.

“That tells me we are actually good services for the most part,” Hawkins said. “Whatever I read through here it is very similar to what we have come up with.”

The first question of the survey under the quantitative section, Roberts said, was how important the services are to recruitment.

“And the things that we seem to think are important we’ve said hey we need to maintain these services, the students tend to agree with us,” Roberts said.

The survey differed in responses regarding the importance of certain services and Peter Andrew used dining as an example, which was rated lower than most services.

Andrew said if people like off-campus students do not use the dining services then they do not think they are important. All in all this effect is a result from covering a broader range of people.

However, Roberts said the idea of UPD and career services, which were ranked higher, supports what the group supports and affirms the message that there are services that need to be kept for recruitment purposes.

The second question under the section asked students what they thought needed investments, such as the Student Recreational Center, which was high on the list.

The third question focused on what students think they are investing in and what they would like to invest in.

Roberts said the things they were hearing matches with what students actually said on the survey.

Hawkins said the student responses backed up the research the group already conducted.

Roberts asked if the document could be written by Monday or Tuesday.

Vietto said she and Davidson should have recommendations written up by Friday or Saturday once she contacts Davidson to get his response.

Analicia Haynes can be reached at 581-2812 or achaynes@eiu.edu.