Chancellor Daniel L. Ritchie met with students to hear their concerns, including the proposal that students have the same mailing address during their four years at the University of Denver.
This proposal and others were made at the quarterly Chancellor’s Roundtable last Wednesday. Ben Brooks, a tour coordinator at the Office of Admissions, proposed the permanent mailing address. He suggested a system of all mailboxes in a common area where students could pick up mail.
Ritchie said the plan was a good one although he had some concerns. “Where would we put 10,000 boxes?” he asked.
He recommended that Brooks speak with Mark Rodgers, the DU architect, about where the boxes could be placed and recommended Driscoll Center as a possible location.
Students attending the meeting said that having a permanent address would be an advantage for them because it would save them from losing their mail to addresses and having to change their address so often. Students added that it would be a good way to unite the campus by providing a place for students to meet and interact with one another.
Brooks said that he would conduct a survey to determine how many students would be interested in having one mailbox.
Brooks then asked Ritchie for his opinion about campus tours that the university offers to potential students. Ritchie showed immediate interest in the tours and asked Brooks if he could tag-along on a tour with potential students to “see what kind of questions are asked” to determine if he could add anything to the information given to students by the tour guides.
Ritchie said that he would set up a time to go on a guided tour with potential students with Brooks later.
Zach Poppel asked about the use of Rogers Amphitheater located outside the Cable Center. Poppel suggested that the students could use the area to show movies.
Ritchie reacted with zeal and said that it would be a good use of the space and recommended holding talents shows, stand-up comedy acts or concerts as well. He asked Poppel to check into the cost of projection equipment and to e-mail him that information. He also asked Jenna Brown from the Ombudsman Office to look into the matter.
Poppel also asked how students could meet DU President Marc Holtzman, who was appointed in the spring.
Ritchie said Holtzman was making himself available for students, and that he would speak to him about attending the next roundtable.
Daniel Byrd and Yusuf Malik, AUSA senators, voiced their concerns about the ongoing construction on Driscoll Lawn, a traditional gathering space for students made unusable by the ongoing re-landscaping project.
“The lawn used to be a source of student activities,” Byrd said.
Ritchie said there were numerous reasons why the university was landscaping the area, including an effort to correct an irrigation problem that left the outer area of the lawn “swampy” while the inner area was dry. He also said that the northern portion would still be an elevated grass area that will be surrounded by trees for a “play area” for students.
“When you see this, you’ll see why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Ritchie assured Byrd.
Ritchie said the university would begin to use gray water provided by the city and was digging a well as a preventative measure in the event of future droughts. He said that if students saw any purple pipes on campus, those pipes were being used for this project. The university will begin to use grey water in the next couple of years.
Malik asked if there was any possibility that the university could construct or make available a lounge for students that would stay open late. He said that this could help create a better community on campus.
“I don’t think it is (possible) in the short run,” Ritchie said and enumerated such complications as the sale of alcohol in the lounge. He explained that if the university implemented Brooks proposal of centralized mailboxes that could create a common place for the DU community to interact.
Molly Gallagos described her experiences with the Career Center. She said that the center had been unable to help her start her career through job opportunities. She also stated that at the Career Fair there were primarily business organizations.
Ritchie said that he believed the departments were doing a good job.
“We need a collaboration between departments and the Career Center,” he said. He said that he would look into the matter.
Andy Remstad, the campus director for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, said that the group had 150 interested students this year, and that he wanted the chancellor to know that things were going well.
Ritchie said he pleased to hear that and asked that Remstad keep him informed of how FOCUS is doing.
