Written by Olivia Studdard, Staff Writer

The Valdosta State University Faculty Senate led by President Peggy Moch and Vice President Mike Holt will meet today at 3:30 p.m. to discuss changes to student affairs including changes to Student Opinion of Instruction surveys. This decision has been prompted by a recent decline in completion of the surveys.

SOIs give students the chance to express how they felt about their professor and the class at the end of the semester.

The new SOI policy may affect students receiving final grades. The new rule was proposed by Deborah Robson, Associate Professor of Communication Arts. If this new rule were to be passed, students could possibly be required to complete the SOIs before they have access to their final grade for the course, and the change could have a small impact on the student’s final grade.

“They definitely shouldn’t keep it the same. But I think the best idea would be survey-type questions than the way the questions are focused now. The questions that figure out how ready you think you are for the next level of that class more than the class itself,” said VSU sophomore, Annagrace Gaines.

After hearing about the possible changes, freshman early childhood education major, Alyssa Johnson, was appalled that more people weren’t taking the surveys at the end of the semester.

“Of course everyone would do something if we got rewarded. If the professors are serious about it, students should be serious about it without fear of penalties,” Johnson said.

Another topic being proposed at this meeting is a better campus notification system. Many students as well as faculty are not getting the campus notifications after signing up for them, even notifications about crime happening in close proximity to the campus. The faculty senate will be heavily discussing ways to improve this as well as involvement with the campus police.