If there is one thing I know from being in college for the last year and a half, it's that each college has their own quirks. The time that I have spent at AUM so far has been, for the most part, wonderful. That being said, I, along with several other students, have some questions and suggestions for the AUM faculty, staff, administration and whoever else will listen!

1. Make the options in The Roost better! - Tommi

Pizza, burgers, fries, sandwiches, burritos, sandwiches and one station where you can get certain cooked foods get really old, really quickly. None of that is healthy either! Sure, there is a small refrigerated section of slightly healthy options but those run out before the majority of the lunch crowd gets in there. The freshman 15 and so on is real and these cafeteria options are not helping!

2. Make things like housing, books, stuff in The Roost less expensive! - Sha

Yes, I realize this is college and things are meant to be more expensive. But, where does it stop? I promise you, AUM, every student would tell you the same thing: it's too expensive! Our wallets and pocketbooks would gladly appreciate you lowering your costs all around. What is all this money we are paying you going to anyway???

3. We NEED more parking!! - Brianna

This is probably true for every school but it still needs to be said. I feel like our school is trying way too hard to be less of a commuter school. They have built more dorms where we really could use the parking spaces! Focus on the students you have before recruiting so many more and not having anywhere for them to go.

4. There needs to be better communication with students!! - Brianna

Several situations have happened in the past six months that lead me, along with many students, to be concerned about how the administration is communicating with students. In some cases, the emails and alerts about these situations were not sent out until after the incidents were over and fixed. In other cases, the emails and alerts that were sent out led students to believe that those sending them did not truly care about the situations that took place. Even still, there are some issues that I never received emails about that other students did. Anyway, this has got to be fixed! If not, you are putting the safety of your students and other people on campus in jeopardy

5. Update your databases (DegreeWorks, Blackboard, email etc.)! - Kiersten

Seriously, if you have not noticed, your databases are extremely outdated. The user interface is terrible sometimes. I have gotten notifications multiple times on all of my devices that the apps were going to slow down (device here) and that the developer needs to update it. Blackboard and email crash a lot and it is super annoying. Fix it, Jesus.

6. Bring more on campus jobs! - Taniya

Of all of the funds AUM has and continues to bring in, we all understand that these funds have to be allocated to certain departments. But when you keep cutting department funding, you are taking away so many student jobs. Therefore, the ones left are, essentially, reserved for those who are in the work study program. I'm not saying those people are any less in need of a job, but there are students who live on campus or live in the area that would love an on campus job too. Not all students on campus have a car to be able to go to an off campus job. Plus, on campus jobs are usually easier to fit into a school schedule. So, either quit cutting funding as much and add more jobs or, with the jobs that are left, divide them up as evenly as possible between those in the work study program and those who are not.

7. Make the breaks between classes and the lunch break longer! - Megan

Walking all the way across campus from one class to another is NOT fun. Yes, it's exercise. We all need exercise. But, when you have to go from the third floor of one building to the third floor of another building that's all the way across campus in 10 minutes or less with a huge crowd? It's too much. The lunch break needs to be longer because there are way too many people at this school to fit in The Roost all at once. Everyone is trying to get lunch at the same time and it just doesn't work. Sure, you could go earlier or later than that official 45 minutes but what if your class schedule doesn't allow that? Make the breaks between classes 15 or 20 minutes and make the lunch break 75 minutes or something around there. Students everywhere would appreciate it.

8. Be more environmentally friendly! - Hannah

I could tell you hundreds of times that I've seen students just leave their trash from eating or whatever on the table, in their seats or on the floor. Some are decent enough to put their trash in the trash can that is literally 10 steps in either direction. But, this isn't enough. There should be recycling bins available everywhere on campus. There should be more information made available to students about the environment, environmental issues and how they can get involved. Environmental containers in the caf would be nice too. We've had these before but they were taken away. Why??? Bring them back! Also, put more of those fancy water bottle filling water fountains around campus.

9. Make napping rooms! - Anna

This one is the least likely to happen but I don't love this idea any less. Students are tired all the time. We are going to class all day and working, trying to keep relationships with our family and friends healthy, and trying to stay healthy ourselves! There are some days I go to class all day and then have several hours before I can go home. A good, comfortable place to nap besides sitting in really uncomfortable chairs and laying our heads down on hard wooden tables or desks would be super nice.