*** Here it is people, the new and updated list of policy changes we want to see made at Kutztown University! Please note that several items were taken off the list and some more points were added. If you were supporting any policies that were taken off, I’m sorry, but we need to focus our points and have concrete evidence backing us up. If you have any problems with this new list, feel free to express your concerns to me via Facebook message; please do me the favor of treating me as an adult, and I will surely do the same for you.

The poll that was, and still will be until Monday, displayed under ‘posted items’ has helped us in taking into consideration the views of the majority of members in this group. I’d like to thank everyone who took the 30 seconds out of their life to complete this poll. ***

Finally, we will begin to discuss our new views:

1. Communication

This is key among any ‘business’, as Kutztown is commonly referred to as. Before I go any further into this discussion, I’d like to ask you; how many of you have actually sat down and talked with the Dean of your department? It’s my guess that very few of you actually have. The Deans are established to help students with choices regarding their department. However, if we are not communicating with them, and they are not communicating with us; what are they getting paid for?

The University is also lacking in communication between the current administration and its faculty as well as the students. I’m sure I have the support of the faculty when I say that the administration is failing to communicate appropriately with them. According to Dr. Kevin Mahoney, President Cevallos was very unwilling to work with the faculty and staff to rectify Kutztown’s dropping from a Tier 3 to a Tier 4 school, specifically due to large class sizes caused by the Academic Forum. APSCUF-KU put forth three different proposals for ‘discussion sections, grad assistants, and reduced course load to accommodate more students in office hours.’ The administration simply said “No.” to each proposal, due to cost. Kutztown University is both a business and an educational institution; however, the administration is treating the University as if it is solely a business.

Thirdly, with a lack of student support at Student Government Board meetings, both the SGB and the administration are making decisions about students without hearing from the students. This is, in majority, our fault as students. We should become more interested in supporting our SGB and helping them to help us. With this group, we will be taking our concerns to the SGB and providing them with a list of concerns that Kutztown students have.

Lastly, under this topic of Communication, comes the concern of the finding of a gun in one of the dorms, as I’m sure you’ve all received the email about. The email was sent out an entire day after the incident took place and was, presumably, sent out only because of inquiries. “We have had some inquiries today concerning an incident that occurred on campus on Wednesday, February 20,” was the first line of the email. As Kutztown Students, we deserve to be informed of incidents, especially of this caliber, happening on campus the day of the incident. Although the situation was taken care of immediately by Public Safety and Police Services, we still hold the right to know about a situation that could have, potentially, concerned lives at Kutztown, especially due to the shooting at Northern Illinois University, which happened less than a week before the gun was found at Kutztown.

2. Kutztown’s dropping from a Tier 3 school to a Tier 4 school

I have received several messages asking me what exactly this means. In short, US News publishes a list of colleges and Universities and puts them into specific categories (tiers) based on a large number of circumstances (everything from student to teacher ratio, to student satisfaction). The tier system works as follows: Tier 1 is full of ‘top-notch’ schools such as Princeton, and the tiers drop as the college or University gets ‘worse and worse’ until the 4th tier, which is the lowest. What does this mean for us, being students of a Tier 4 school? Basically, after we graduate and are applying for jobs, we will get ‘put on the bottom’ of the pile because of this. There are, however, exceptions to this depending on the grades you achieve here at Kutztown and the activities you are involved in, however, the employers will, more than likely, favor students who graduated from a Tier 1-3 school, rather than Tier 4.

Before further discussing this issue, I would like to point your attention to Kutztown University’s very own mission statement found at: http://www.kutztown.edu/about/mission.shtml
It reads as follows:
Over the next five years, we shall embrace these initiatives and implement our vision by Enhancing communication with all stakeholders;
Establishing an institutional identity, based on our achievements and traditions;
Renewing our commitment to civility within our diverse community and the region;
Becoming a Tier 2 institution and establishing KU as the first choice among prospective constituents.
Kutztown’s dropping from Tier 3 to Tier 4 could have been caused by a variety of reasons. Among these are overcrowding and large class sizes, and the student to teacher ratio. The completion of the Academic Forum, which holds class sizes up to 200, was a large factor in this. Although the project was started by the President before Cevallos, President Cevallos himself decided that it was a good idea to carry out the rest of the construction and also failed to acknowledge the input of Kutztown Faculty (as mentioned above).

The problem of overcrowding is a big deal, and will continue to be as Kutztown accepts more and more undergraduate students. With the large numbers expected to be coming to campus next year, class sizes are likely to continue to increase, which will subsequently keep Kutztown as a Tier 4 school.

3. Meal Plans

Yes, this is still a major concern of this group. All University residents are required to get a meal plan. They can choose between Gold or Maroon status. Both meal plans have the common problem of lost meals. If we are unable to make it to a food location within a designated time, the meal that was purchased for that time is lost forever. With the amount of money we are paying at the beginning of the year, we should at least be able to eat 3 meals a day, even if a ‘designated time’ is skipped.

For the Maroon plan: I’m sure you all know about the time restrictions, specifically that we can’t get food on campus after 8:00pm. Is there a good reason for this? I am going to be looking in depth for this answer, and will let you know what I find.

For the Gold Plan: You are given $150 in flex each semester to spend as you see fit, right? Not really; if you wish to get anything on campus that costs more than the pre-set $4.10, which is pretty much everything on campus, you are forced into using your flex dollars. It is truly surprising how fast they go.

*Calculations are currently being revamped due to a concern brought up in a wall post*

4. Snow removal and preparation

We must admit that, during the past snowstorm of 2-22, walkway conditions were extremely clear compared to that of 2-13’s storm. Props are given to the crews who made this happen!

Going back to the happenings of February 13, 2008, however, is something that we feel we need to continue fighting for to prevent that happening again. As you may have noticed, we have been in touch with Jeff Grimm, the Assistant Vice President for Facilities. We are still trying to find out what exactly went wrong that day and why Kutztown was not delayed longed or closed. Unbeknownst to most students, myself included, Mr. Grimm says that they did plan ahead and put salt down upon the walkways.

In reality, this group simply does not want to see this situation repeat itself. During the morning hours, you may remember, the walkways were covered by ice. We simply want to bring this concern to the attention of the University. I have had several students either post on the wall or send me a message about how they slipped and fell on the icy walkways that day. If there were any serious injuries, Kutztown could have easily been the defendant in a lawsuit. Also, according to Louis Kovach, who is a member of the volunteer fire company in Kutztown, there were “accidents all over Berks County, including some fatal ones.”

Kutztown University needs to take into consideration all of its ‘associates’ in events like this: residents, commuters, handicapped, and faculty. The email can partially be to blame in this situation as well. If you were trying to see if you still had class via Kutztown email on the morning of February 13, you know that you were unable to get access. Because of this, residents had to traverse icy terrain, and even worse, commuters had to drive over the ice, in most cases just to see their classes cancelled. As it has been brought up to the group before, Professors don’t always go over what we should do if weather conditions are extremely bad and the University isn’t closed. Personally, my professors didn’t say a thing about it, and I ended up having all of my classes (with the exception to my 3:00 class because the campus finally decided to close).

5. Parking/Tickets

According to the poll that was posted to the group, most people are concerned with the ticket situation at Kutztown. I understand that, if you break the rules you should expect to pay the consequences. However, students parked at the Fairgrounds rarely visit their cars even on a weekly basis. If they accidently mis-parked due to the white lines being painted on stones and the stones being overturned, or due to snow/ice covering the lines, they are subject to tickets every four hours during enforced times. At $15 per ticket, and receiving up to four tickets a day, five days in a row, this results in up to $300 in fines for just one week. We are also fighting to get the price of parking tickets reduced.

"It's been confirmed that they hand out approximately 12,000 tickets per semester. Now, let’s say every ticket is a $10 ticket (which is ridiculously modest), they're making approx. $120,000 in tickets, plus the $61,000 they made off of the parking passes. That's, modestly, $180,000 for the fall semester. Tack on another $120,000 for the Spring semester.

$300,000...and that's with very modest ticket prices. Most tickets are $15 and up."
-Dale Wilsey

The Fairgrounds, as previously stated, can be a very dangerous place. The Fairgrounds are unpaved and riddled with deep holes. As mentioned by Jeff Grimm, a new plan will be in effect for the maintenance of the Fairgrounds. Kutztown’s crews will be attempting to maintain the Fairgrounds with quarterly inspections.


In conclusion, I’d like to state that we are not trying to ‘step on the toes of’, or ‘overstep’ the Student Government Board. We are simply voicing the concerns of individuals who do not feel that the SGB can recognize them or help them with their problems. It is our hope that, when and if we become an official student group, we can co-exist peacefully with the SGB and even help them with problems. Unlike the SGB, however, we would like to take a stance on issues involving the issues. We feel that this is the only true way that these problems can be changed. Thank you for taking the time to read through this.

Please note that even THIS is not a ‘final draft’ of our group and there will, more than likely, be more to come. Thank you again for your continued support.


** Group picture credit goes to Nicole Loveland ** (read less)

*** Here it is people, the new and updated list of policy changes we want to see made at Kutztown University! Please note that several items were taken off the list and some more points were added. If you were supporting any policies that were taken off, I’m sorry, but we need to focus our points and have concrete evidence backing us up. If you have any problems with this new list, feel free to express your concerns to me via Facebook message; please do me the favor of treating me as an adult,... (read more)