Faculty-student interaction is the way to go

Yesterday, the Sustainable Hopkins Infrastructure Program (SHIP) held the first annual Future of Hopkins Symposium. The event allows students and faculty to present ideas to create a better and more sustainable Hopkins. Some of the ideas presented included the creation of a University-wide donation bank which would accept used items from students, an art gallery at MSE focused on science and the planting of gardens on buildings to increase the amount of local produce on campus.

This page commends SHIP for sponsoring this event. We believe that student and faculty input is essential to this University, and the ideas presented are a good start toward improving life at Homewood. Programs such as the Johns Hopkins University Free Store and the possiblity of incorporating green roofs are innovative ideas that will improve Hopkins’s sustainability, which is a goal that the school should be committed to. However, this event sheds light on the fact that students and faculty don’t often have a say regarding University policy decisions.

To this end, this page encourages the University to sponsor more events which would open up a discourse about improving student life and the overall campus experience at Hopkins. It shouldn’t be left to SHIP and other student groups to sponsor such events. Having more University-wide forums with administrators would provide students with a centralized location at which they would be allowed to present their ideas and concerns. There are many pressing issues affecting students and faculty – such as the possible phasing out of covered grades, for instance – and the University should allow them the opportunity to speak up.

Events like the Future of Hopkins Symposium provide the University with a list of solid ideas that should actually be incorporated into the University’s plans for the next few years. The school should seriously consider these ideas, as they are plans that students and faculty members are passionate about.

This page believes that true change at the University can most effectively be achieved when students and faculty work together. We’re encouraged by the faculty-student interaction at the Symposium, and we believe that more of such interaction is necessary. We commend SHIP for fostering this collaboration at the Symposium, along with the Office of Residential Life for initiating the Faculty-Student Interaction program which aims to bring the academic and residential settings closer together. These groups, however, are few in number. This page encourages students and student groups to reach out to faculty members to advocate for change on campus. With students and faculty working together to bring change to Homewood, the University will be more likely to listen.