Students mixed on officials' openness

Campus administrators pride themselves on their efforts to reach out to students, saying that they strive to make themselves available to hear concerns.

But in a University community filled with more than 20,000 student voices, some say they have found the only way to make themselves heard is through a demonstration of force.

A rally held Wednesday in support of Carolina Dining Services employees culminated with participants storming South Building and demanding to meet with administrators.

A week earlier, representatives of Student Action with Workers said it was Chancellor James Moeser’s refusal to meet with the group that led them to stage a sit-in at South Building.

But Christopher Payne, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, said all student groups have ample opportunities to meet with University officials.

Student affairs is available “if they have questions or concerns or want to talk about something,” Payne said.

He said Margaret Jablonksi, vice chancellor for student affairs, has held meetings with many student groups throughout the year.

Jablonski’s office also holds open office hours for all students from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. every Tuesday.

Students who want to get in touch with administrators should come to the student affairs office’s office hours, Payne said, or they should relay their concerns through student government officials.

Former Student Body Vice President Alexa Kleysteuber, who served as chairwoman of the Student Advisory Committee to the Chancellor, said Moeser is relatively available to the student body.

SACC coordinated three open-house events this year, which Kleysteuber described as beneficial to students.

“They have all had surprisingly good attendance,” she said. “They have hit at a good time because they have been able to address important issues on campus.”

Jonathan Pourzal, coordinator of SAW, said the group’s troubles with reaching administrators began in early April when it requested a meeting with Moeser regarding the treatment of dining hall employees.

Pourzal said officials told the group that although Moeser would not meet with them, other administrators were available.

After staging the sit-in April 13, Moeser still did not agree to attend a formal meeting on CDS issues.

Wednesday’s rally resulted in two meetings with Aramark Corp., UNC’s food services provider and the corporation that employs CDS workers. One meeting was for students and one was for workers. Moeser did not attend either.

Pourzal said he thinks the meetings were not productive.

Student government officials, on the other hand, meet with Moeser and other administrators on a regular basis.

“We just picked up the phone and called and scheduled a meeting,” said former Student Body President Matt Calabria. “I can’t think of a time when we were turned down for a meeting.”

Moeser has a busy schedule and often attends back-to-back meetings throughout the day, according to his calendar.

Last year, a comprehensive study by The Daily Tar Heel revealed that Moeser met with student leaders about 25 times during 2003 — roughly the same number of meetings he held with faculty leaders.

Calabria said he was generally able to reach Moeser when necessary. “We found that access to the chancellor was about as high as it could be, considering his time restraints.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.