Until just recently there have been no records of a State of the Students Address at the college. Now there has been one of record.
Student Senate president Colin Bowden gave his first State of the Student Body Address on Oct. 22 in the Truax Student Lounge.
In his speech, Bowden touched on topics ranging from parking and healthy eating to textbook costs and prayer spaces.
“We can focus on small improvements, make things a little better,” Bowden said. “It’s a good start,” Bowden said.
Those initiatives include leaving the gender-neutral bathrooms unlocked, incentivizing carpooling and working to let teachers know about cheaper options when it comes to choosing textbooks. More sweeping changes include a Student Advocates program, prayer spaces, carpooling incentives, bike rental stalls and healthier meals.
A change he is advocating is student representation on the district board. In his speech, he said everyone from kindergartners to UW-Madison students have representatives on their respective boards, and when asked he clarified that, so far, no Wisconsin technical college has that same representation. He cites state law 38.145 as granting that right to students at Madison College.
All of these changes require something that even Bowden admits is in somewhat short supply – a cohesive student body. Madison College is largely a commuter college and a lot of the students here come to class and go home, doing very little in between. Bowden said the sense of community is lacking and it is as an aspect of our culture that needs to change.
This is where his Student Advocates program comes in. Bowden said it is student staff working in a student organization that gives one-on-one advice and helps other students. It acts like an executive staff for the Student Senate by amplifying, but not replacing, their voice by helping with surveys, press releases and fliers. It also encompasses talking to other students.
“We need to go out there, talk to people, have lunch (and) interact,” Bowden said.
“That’s how I got most of my votes for president. That’s how I’ve gotten a lot done.”
In his speech, Bowden continued to emphasize why he thinks Madison College’s student body needs to make the shift from a collection of individuals working toward individual goals to a real community – a community that looks out for itself and cares about its future.
“We may serve business, at times, but we are not a business,” Bowden said during the speech. “We are a community resource, so it’s not just about solitary achievement; it’s about giving back.”
Jackie Dahlke, the Student Senate advisor, said it showed that Bowden was passionate about this event and it came through during the speech.
“I bet he changed it 16 times,” she said. “I mean, he really cared about it.”
Dahlke also said an impressive thing about this was it was really a group effort all the way around from Student Senate.
Senate members were on hand greeting students and staff as they entered the student lounge. There were senators working with the audio for the microphone and there were people working with catering so there would be refreshments ready for the students as they walked in.
“While it was his idea, it took the whole team to make it possible,” Dahlke said. “At the end of the day, it wasn’t about him. First, it was about the students, but it was also a group success of the senate.”
At this time, there are no official plans for the next state of the student address, but there are discussions about doing this again. There are also discussions to possibly have different senate members do speeches. However, there are also discussions to do short messages that can be viewed on the web whether it be on the Student Senate website, Blackboard or The Link. Those messages may be issues that are exclusive to Madison College or items that may be voted on in the community or on the state level.