Saint Xavier’s Board of Trustees have adopted a new vision for the university. “Vision 2017” outlines six major goals to improve the university over the course of the next five years.
In its second goal, the university plans to better use its available resources. This effort includes creating more environmentally sustainable ways to run the university. We already have two green dorm buildings, but we could certainly use more environmentally friendly practices. For instance, some of the school’s choices in the diner need re-vamping.
Food choices may not seem like they have a significant relationship with environmental sustainability, but it becomes clear when we start to consider where the food comes from, how it was produced and how it came to our very own diner.
Many of our options in the diner are pre-packaged, individually-wrapped single servings of highly processed food. Everything from “Uncrustables” to power bars to Cheetos line the shelves, right next to deeply browned bananas and apples that are on their way to being applesauce.
If we put more of an effort on fresh produce instead of processed goods, we could better serve the student’s health and simultaneously increase our environmental responsibility. Plants are better for the earth than fried chicken strips and Cheetos.
They have far fewer steps in production and consume far fewer resources to grow. One way, SXU could meet its Vision 2017 environmental sustainability goal is to become more conscious of the effect its food choices have on the earth.
By 2015, the university plans to, “Attract 10 new named and endowed scholarships.” This goal in particular displays Saint Xavier’s commitment to student welfare.
With threats to federal aid always lurking, we can use all the scholarship opportunities we can find. The push to attract more scholarships shows that Saint Xavier understands the financial burden students must overcome to achieve their education.
By making this effort, our university puts us first in its goals and priorities. In addition to a greater number of available scholarships, students can look forward to a $20,000 Student-Faculty Partnership Endowment by 2013. This endowment is intended to “support collaborative student-faculty research or creative project.” If we had better funding, we would have so many more opportunities to pursue specialized research projects and work with supportive professors on issues that interest us.
We could have a broader range of choices to take what we are learning in our classrooms and apply it to real-world problems in our own research. This endowment, which is expected to grow each year, shows that SXU is making and effort to be a stand-out research school where students can train for careers in applied sciences.
In addition, having research experience will help students choose a graduate school and be better prepared when they get there. As part of a broader plan to promote thought leadership, Saint Xavier will also make sure that each college within the university hosts at least one regional or national academic or professional event. Some departments are already practicing this goal.
For instance, Dr. Flo Appel in the computer science department recently hosted ChiWIC, the Chicago Women in Computing conference. Alumni returned to attend and support the event, local businesses came to recruit and students had the opportunity to network with professional women in the technology industry.
With this new requirement, each school could serve its students in the same way. This change would not only increase student involvement, it would help us all in our hunt for a career or graduate school. In Vision 2017, the university plans to do even more to strengthen academic programs and support services.
SXU will track undergraduate acceptance to graduate and professional programs and plans to increase the overall acceptance rate by at least one percentage point each year up until 2017. Students will benefit from this record because it with our university backing us up, we will have a better chance of succeeding.
With all of these goals in place, students at Saint Xavier can look forward to a brighter five years ahead. As these goals are met, we can know that we belong to a university that takes our needs seriously and puts us first.