Student Life

In no particular order, below is a list of issues and changes that we are either currently working on or are developing plans to address.  Click any one to find out more!


• Diversity
  
• Campus Space Issues
  
• Customer Service Surveys
  
• Housing
  
• Council of International Students
  
• Book Swap Program
  
• Student Opportunities Website
  
• Temple Today - Student Organization Version
  
• Greek Life
  
• Disability Accessibility
  
• Promote Temple Pride
  

 

Diversity

Temple is known for being the second-most diverse campus in the country. It is something that we are all very proud of. Many of the students and faculty at Temple bring up our diversity as one of the major reasons why they choose to come here. Owl Evolution wants that to continue and to further improve upon its current state. Three major issues that we have identified as needing to be addressed based on various student complaints have been the lack of information about the Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs, the lack of integration between people of different cultures and ethnicities, and worries that Temple may be moving away from recruiting multi-cultural students.

Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs: This newly formed office was established this past year, to provide students of all ethnicities and backgrounds the appropriate resources to succeed. Currently the Office is going through the process of hiring directors for the various components of the program. These components are student development, business outreach, an office of investigation, and an office of recruitment/retention. Juan Galeano (Candidate for VP of Student Affairs) has worked very closely with the office, and has sat in on interviews for the people applying for some of the positions mentioned earlier.

Multi-Cultural Student Union: Based on discussions with students and faculty on Main Campus, there is major concern that segregation is occurring amongst various ethnic groups. To address this problem, Owl Evolution has developing plans to establish a Multi-Cultural Student Union where students can come together with the specific intention to increase interaction between students of all ethnicities and cultural backgrounds.

Maintaining Diversity: In an effort to promote and maintain Temple’s diversity, the Diversity Affairs Committee, chaired by Juan Galeano (Candidate for VP of Student Affairs), has conducted “phone-a-thons,” to reach out to accepted students. The committee has also attended prospective student fairs, admitted student fairs, and has helped in an extensive post card campaign where personalized letters were sent out to potential students. If elected, we will ensure that Temple Student Government increases its outreach efforts even more by continuing the various initiatives we started.



 

Campus Space Issues

As the population of Temple increases every year and the student presence on campus increases, University facilities are becoming more outdated. Temple has not grown in accordance with our population. As the University plans to bring even more students on this campus (and the addition of Tyler coming in two years) a major concern is how this will affect our current situation. If elected, we will begin the dialogue between administrators and students to determine what the best strategy is to deal with the impending issue.



 

Customer Service Surveys

Temple students pay for many services and it is the responsibility of both the students who use them, and Student Government to report when these services are not satisfactorily rendered. Owl Evolution wants to implement surveys across the campus to evaluate what student’s opinions are on the services we receive. Based on our findings we will make the appropriate recommendations.



 

Housing

The Department of Housing serves many students, and is going through a significant transition. In his role as a Resident Assistant, Juan Galeano has been involved in the process and will continue to be so. Owl Evolution would like to be a part of helping to make sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible, and if elected, we plan to establish closer ties between residence halls and student government.



 

Council of International Students

Owl Evolution’s primary concern is strengthening the student voice. An issue of major concern is that international students’ needs are not adequately met. Our goal is to strengthen their voice by providing our international students with a proper channel to voice their concerns regarding the issues that affect them. We propose the establishment of a Council of International Students that will meet regularly to discuss these concerns. We also expect that Temple Student Government will work closely with the council to address issues affecting International Students.



 

Institute a “Book Swap” Program

In an attempt to save students money, Owl Evolution has proposed establishing a book swap program that will offer students an opportunity to exchange books at the end of every semester so that students can save money on expensive book prices. We have seen this work at other Universities and we will try our best to make it work at Temple.



 

Student Opportunities Website

Temple offers its students many opportunities to develop in terms of leadership capabilities, personal growth, civic engagement, and educational advancement. However often times students who may be very well qualified for these programs are not informed of their existence because these opportunities are hard to find, and are scattered throughout different websites or offices. We propose centralizing these opportunities on the Temple Student Government website for easy access and information sharing.



 

Temple Today – Student Organization Version

Every morning in our e-mail accounts you will find a Temple Today message that will inform you of the events sponsored by University departments, administrators, and some student groups. Owl Evolution proposes establishing a Temple Today email specifically to deliver information from student organizations. By doing so, we believe that students will be more informed about what is happening on campus while easily getting more information about events they may be interested in. This will also help offset the cost of advertising that student organizations have to bear.



 

Greek Life

We believe that Greek life on Temple’s campus has the ability to be great. With Temple being one of the largest universities in the country, Greek life should be much stronger then it currently is. Greek organizations offer students opportunities to develop character while forming friendships that last a lifetime. They also encourage scholastic achievement, offer opportunities for students to take on leadership roles, and provide unlimited networking possibilities. Currently, Temple only offers Greek organizations a few great benefits and we recognize the need to improve on the relationship between the Greek community and University policies affecting them.

Summary of benefits Temple offers its Greek organizations

• License to identify chapter with Temple
• University recognition
• Access to advice from Greek Advisor
• Participation in university wide recruitment
• Membership and assistance in all fraternal councils
• Access to facilities at a 50 percent discount rate
• Access to assistance in publicity
• Inclusion of “emergency on/call system under Student Affairs” which will provide disaster relief to any organization chapter house.

Owl Evolution understands the problem that smaller Greek organizations have with University recognition. Some of these organizations have made great contributions to student life at Temple. We have decided to defend the position of smaller Greek organizations, and help them gain recognition if they or any Greek organization deserves it. We would also like to work closely with the Temple University Greek Association (TUGA), so that benefits of being a TUGA member are clearly defined and are on par with University standards. Raysean Hogan and Juan Galeano have been strong supporters for these organizations in many ways. Raysean Hogan has, and will continue to promote collaborations between Main Campus Program Board and Greek organizations so that their role in enhancing student life becomes amplified. Juan Galeano has been an active advocate for the Greek community and currently sits on the Greek Life Committee, charged with re-establishing the Greek life strategy for the next five years.



 

Disability Accessibility

We recognize that there are some issues regarding the accessibility of Main campus facilities for disabled students. Among these issues is the problem of the uneven roads due to trolley tracks on 12th and 13th Street that are potentially unsafe for students in wheelchairs to cross. There is also much concern regarding the accessibility of facilities for disabled students in Speakman Hall, the Liacouras Center, Presser Hall, Rock Hall, and Tomlinson Theater. Owl Evolution plans to do more research so that these issues can be properly addressed.



 

Promote Temple Pride

With all of the new developments taking place on Temple’s campus, increasing pride in our University should become one of our priorities. The success of Temple athletics and the introduction of new football coach Al Golden and “The Golden Era,” has given Temple students a new anticipation for athletic success. Raysean Hogan, along with Vice President of Student Affairs Cristina Ackas, has developed and organized Temple’s new Homecoming Committee which will prove to be a valuable asset in promoting Temple pride and ensuring quality Homecoming programming for years to come. It is also our intention to enhance student pride by highlighting Temple’s achievement in our academic programs.