Local News

Student Senate president predicts gen ed changes

By Jenny Whalen GVL Editor in Chief
2/7/2010

After four years of service on Grand Valley State University's Student Senate, Autumn Trombka will soon complete her second term as president. The Midland native is pursuing degrees in criminal justice and chemistry with hopes of working in a forensic crime lab upon graduation. The Lanthorn sat down with Trombka to discuss her experience with Student Senate to date and issues the body continues to address in the interest of GVSU students.

Lanthorn: How would you describe the purpose of the Student Senate to the campus community?

Trombka: The biggest thing we want students to know is we don't do projects because there is a person on our body who thinks, "Oh, this would be a fun thing to do." We're always, always striving to find the projects and issues students care about.

The best thing I think we have going for us is we have such an easy access to anyone we need to talk to, whether it's just a faculty member, they're willing to listen to us, administration, a staff member ... The biggest thing I would express to students is come out and tell us your issues, come to a meeting, send us an e-mail. We will honestly pick something up because students want it not because it's a personal desire for us to work on it.

Lanthorn: What issue do you feel the Student Senate has had the most success with during your term?

Trombka: Probably themes. It started with the themes issue as a general education requirement and then working with faculty governance they really took that on in the past fall semester. They are making great strides and President (William Selesky), my vice president of educational affairs, has worked a lot with that. It has now become not just evaluating themes but evaluating general education requirements in general. What it means to Grand Valley, what it means to the students at Grand Valley.

We've actually seen a lot of progress and help through faculty governance, which is something that's nice because we don't always get that. We appreciate that a lot.

Lanthorn: Do you foresee any closure to the themes issue in the near future?

Trombka: I really think this semester things are going to be closed out. A preliminary report was given out from the general education subcommittee on faculty governance and spread through faculty governance. They're trying to figure out what's the next step we want to take. I think this semester we will see an answer to our questions and we might actually see some changes to the requirements.

Lanthorn: What do you foresee as GVSU's greatest challenge in the new decade?

Trombka: I think at the university we are struggling to find not necessarily just the size but the type of university we want to be. With the increase in enrollment every year ... everyone loves this small feel of the university, the really personal relationship, yet we want to be a big name, too. We are doing it but I think it's something we need to continue. We've done pretty well in covering Michigan and we're starting to get out more to the country as well and increasing our diversity and every different part of our environment so it will allow us to still be the small-school feel but make us on a bigger scale - a more national scale.

Lanthorn: What do believe to be the biggest challenge facing Millennials in this new decade?

Trombka: I think our generation is struggling as being the next faith in politics and public policy. I think we've seen a huge divide even now along party lines just for the sake of dividing along party lines.

I think we are going to see our generation entering the political field and making those changes or somehow molding together.

editorial@lanthorn.com

Lanthorn: What do believe to be the biggest challenge facing Millennials in this new decade?

I think our generation is struggling as being the next faith in politics and public policy. I think we've seen a huge divide even now along party lines just for the sake of dividing along party lines.

I think we are going to see our generation entering the political field and making those changes or somehow molding together so our country isn't so much in a "we're this and you're that" side anymore and I think for things to happen in our country, for national movements to happen, we're going to have to see a little more cooperation than maybe we've seen in the past few years. On both sides, I don't think it's a one-sided issue at all; I think it's just this is the way we are and this is the way they are and it's just the way we both are and I think that's going to have to mend together a little more to make changes happen.

Lanthorn: What issue brought forth by Student Senate during your time here have you felt closest to?

Trombka: I think one thing we've done with the help of my vice president of finance last year, Mike Krombeen, was forming the academic conference fund in connection with the Provost's Office. First of all it's nice we doubled students' money to be able to do something like this but also our university is not always looked on as something with research. A lot of people don't think there is a lot of research going on but coming from a chemistry major, a lot of my peers and colleagues are doing research as well as I've participated in research myself. It's nice to be able to showcase that and by using the academic conference fund we're really traveling the nation in all different disciplines, not just the sciences. I think that is a great mark at this university that is going to stay around for years to come.

Lanthorn: How have you seen the body change since your freshman year?

Trombka: It's interesting because I will admit as a senator on the finance committee originally finance was it to me. I didn't know a lot was going on until I became vice president of finance. It's fun to see the organization go through waves of older and newer people and it's exciting to see so many young senators this year because they are so gung-ho to work on projects. We have a lot of freshmen, sophomore voices and potentially great leaders coming up.

I think we've developed a very strong relationship with administration since President (Thomas J.) Haas came on and not just through President Haas but all the vice presidents in office. My vice presidents on Student Senate work very closely with all vice presidents in administration and at all different levels. When we talk to our peer institutions and their student governments that is something they are always amazed at and something I pride myself in. President Haas is really only a phone call away and is willing to meet with students at any point in time.

Lanthorn: How do you feel the presidency has changed who you are as a person?

Trombka: I think I have become a much more I-want-to-meet-everyone type of person. I wouldn't necessarily call myself shy before coming to college but I definitely wasn't as out there to be willing to meet with students. Part of it was I needed to. I needed to be that person. I've always enjoyed public speaking, but I'll be honest- I'm less nervous now giving a speech up at convocation with all these freshmen looking up at you than I once was. It doesn't bother me anymore. These past few years have definitely made me fall in love with college even more and I could potentially see myself in the future coming back somehow and working for a university setting or fighting for higher education funding, which is something that astonishes me about what our university goes through. It just made me that much stronger of a person, much more willing to get out there. As cliché as that sounds, "Be the change." It's not so much that I want to make the strides or do something big but go out there and do things because you have the ability to.

Lanthorn: Do you ever plan to pursue a career in politics?

Trombka: I am not planning on pursuing a career in politics. I enjoy hearing the field, listening in the field, but it's just not something I can necessarily see myself in at a higher level. I may see myself in politics more in the realm of a city council, but I don't plan to run for state representative ... definitely not in the next couple of years.

editorial@lanthorn.com

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