Commission to solicit opinions at open forum

Several members of the Commission on Strengthening the Community will hold an open forum November 17 for anyone wishing to voice concerns about the community. The forum is a means of getting in touch with students who are not members of specific groups, said Commission Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the University Board of Trustees Gloria Twine Chisum. "[The open forum] is one mechanism we're using to get to as many people we can reach on campus," she said. "It is an opportunity for students who are in or not in any group to be sure we hear their opinions about what we should be considering in promoting civility." Rebecca Bushnell, Chisum's assistant and Commission office director, said Chisum and several other Commission members will attend the forum. It will be open to any concerns students, faculty or staff members wish to bring forward. "[Chisum] will introduce the forum by talking about specific issues," said Bushnell, the graduate chairperson in the English Department. "Then she will open the floor to [the audience's] concerns and suggestions for change." Bushnell said student, faculty and staff attendance is important because "we might not hear from them otherwise." She said the Commission also plans to conduct a random sampling survey of the University community this month. The telephone interview poll will contact 400 students, 100 faculty members and 100 staff workers, she said. "We wanted a more scientific picture of group relations on campus," she said. "We thought it would be beneficial to get a more scientific view." Another Commission project planned for November is the use of electronic polling. Over the next week or so, Bushnell said she hopes to use the PARIS-like system in which students may call in and give their opinions on specific issues through their touch-tone telephones. "This will be yet another way in which people can get in touch with us," she said. Annenberg graduate student Leah Binder, who is working on the electronic polling project, said the system has yet to be perfected, but she thinks it should be on-line sometime this month. Bushnell said she thinks a great deal of progress has been made already in gathering information and creating a dialogue with students. "We've found a tremendous amount of good will out there," she said. "We've had so many people say they're so glad we're having this conversation. We've got people talking to each other and asking themselves what are the values of this institution."