THE UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA DECEMBER 11, 1998

Community call-in collects local feedback

The phone calls trickled in at first, but they built to a steady stream by the end of UVic's first community phone-in, Dec. 1.

Over the course of the evening, 62 callers contacted the university to praise, question, chastise, or pass along their suggestions about UVic programs, activities and policies. Ten UVic community leaders&emdash;including Board of Governors Vice-Chair Janet Erasmus, President Dr. David Strong and Vice President Academic Dr. Penny Codding&emdash;were on hand to field calls from Greater Victoria residents during the two-hour session.

The phone lines were also staffed by: Cled Thomas, administrative registrar; Dr. Wes Koczka, dean of continuing studies; Sandra Guarascio, president, graduate students' society; Rob Fleming, chair, UVic students' society; Jerry Robson, executive director, facilities management; David Clode, acting executive director of student and ancillary services; and Jim Griffith, executive director, external relations.

Those on the receiving end heard everything from requests for more evening and late afternoon courses, suggestions about more contact with the university's neighbours, and concerns about impolite students, to comments about the way we treat applicants, complaints about difficulties in finding parking spots on campus, questions about our second language and English requirements, the rationale for various policies, and whether we're attempting to curtail non-native plants on campus.

There were also suggestions for new on-line courses, a program on library use for the community, greater transportability between credit and non-credit programs, and new language courses.

The callers represented a wide range of interests&emdash;parents and spouses of students, local residents, business people, neighbours, alumni, retired people, and even someone from Nanaimo.

One caller suggested students needed more practical experience, while another expressed concern that UVic is placing too much emphasis on co-op programs and training. And there were compliments: on courses, on the university's programs, on student services, and on the willingness of faculty to make their expertise available to community groups. There were even offers of volunteer help.

"I'm really pleased at the response," says Strong. "We thought the phone-in would provide local residents with a good opportunity to tell us what they think. And they did. Now, we'll take their comments, suggestions, and ideas, and look at where we should make changes."

"I want to thank all those who called in for taking the time to share their views with us, and the UVic people who answered the phones or served as resource people for the evening," Strong adds. "Without their support and commitment to follow up on the calls, this initiative just wouldn't have been possible."

"The response has convinced me that we should do this sort of thing more often," he says. "It's important for us to keep looking for opportunities to be directly in touch with Greater Victoria residents."

The Dec. 1 phone-in is part of a concerted effort by the university to reach out to Greater Victoria. Through the division of external relations, university officials have also been meeting with local business, media, community association and non-profit group representatives, as well as with individual students, alumni, university administrators and faculty members, to canvass their opinions about the job UVic is doing and to gather their suggestions and ideas. The result will be a series of recommendations to the university executive about steps that could be taken to broaden the university's ties to the local community.

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