"I want to hear what's on your minds, what's on your hearts, and what you're struggling with," announced MCC-PV President Bernard Franklin, addressing selected student leaders he'd invited for lunch in the fifth floor conference room on Monday, November 5.
Newly-elected student representatives Jill Street and Amanda Walker were present and said they wanted to hear student concerns as well. Both promised to take grievances and suggestions to their meetings with district and campus administration.
"Like any campus, there are things to be changed," Franklin said. "I appreciate all the good things we say about Penn Valley, but Penn Valley's not perfect. You have imperfect people, trying to do a perfect job. They're human beings, and human beings are flawed like all of us in this room. They all have issues and things that they struggle with, and you have the same here."
As an example, Franklin said he was disappointed in how the new online registration process, begun that morning just after midnight, had promptly been disabled by an onslaught of users trying to enroll early.
"Somewhere, someone should have thought about the time change. And about five campuses going online at the same time, for the first time."
In contrast, he said, suburban schools such as Johnson County Community Colleges have an outstanding reputation for sophistication and efficiency. "And that's fine," he said.
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Franklin said he also is committed to improving everyday relations on campus. "There was a protest at the end of last spring by the Black Students Association," recalled Franklin. "So we hired an outside agency to come in and do a cultural review, to find out what are our issues, and what are some recommendations...we're getting a report back this week."
[Franklin's administrative assistant, Theola Cheatham, says the report has been received, and is currently under review by Franklin and MCC.]
Then Franklin noted some Penn Valley positives, such as progress on construction of the new education center, the "safe building" funded by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He said eventually the building roof - the first so designed in Kansas City - would be planted with no-mow grass that grows only to a limited height, and other greenery.
"We're about done with the new education center. We're looking at about December 20th for everything to be completed, so the building can be occupied. It's going to be a fabulous addition for our campus."
When completed, the FEMA site will provide space for community gatherings, student classroom and lounge areas, and is designed to serve as shelter in case of a tornado or other emergency.
Franklin also touted Penn Valley basketball, and the scholars who play it. "The first men's basketball game is tomorrow night. [The Scouts defeated William Jewell, 98-44.] I certainly hope you all will support our basketball team - and the women's basketball team, and try to make it to at least one game."
He said unlike some major colleges, which graduate only 30-40% of their athletes, Penn Valley graduates 100%.
"We graduate all of our players, which is pretty phenomenal for a community college - for a college, period," said Franklin. "So we're real proud of this, because these are fulltime students like you are, who are also athletes."
As he and guests loaded up on salad and pizza catered by Treat America from the Cafe Scout kitchen, Franklin bravely asked how everyone's education was going.
"One thing I'm concerned about, and I know a lot of other students are too, is the cafeteria," began one student. "The food there is awful, and the prices - who would want to pay for that?" She said most of the food offered is fried, and there are few healthy options.
"Who can afford to buy salad or other fresh foods there? It's way too expensive."
She added that hygiene in the area is poor, especially behind the microwave units for student use, and throughout the dining area and adjacent restrooms.
Another student told of being treated rudely by a Cafe worker at closing time, and said she's never been back, that the food was bad anyway. Another complained about the limited hours the Cafe is open, and wondered why it closed over the summer.
Walker said she had heard the contract with Treat America, which manages campus food service, is about to expire, and urged that it not be renewed. Street suggested that other vendors, such as KFC or Taco Bell, might be invited to offer their fare.
Franklin responded that low enrollment had kept the Cafe closed during summer session. He said he understood some franchises had tried to set up in the dining area in years past, but found it unprofitable.
"Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of say about how Treat America runs their business," said Franklin. But he agreed to see what he could do. "It's very frustrating, and I've spoken with them several times already."
"What about the TV that's been put in the cafeteria?" asked a student.[See our story this issue.] He said he found the TV distracting, especially when set on entertainment channels, and the volume seemed to get louder and louder. Others suggested the TV might be okay if under better control, or if there were multiple sets so that each could be on a different channel.
While some students may watch TV, Walker said "I'm uncomfortable being watched by the security officer now in the cafeteria."
Franklin said the TV and security had been added to help calm some of the disruptive behavior in the dining area.
"We thought we'd try one TV, try it through the winter and see what worked out. But the channel should be set on CNN," he said, promising to look into how the set was being controlled.
Franklin said he had specifically asked for a security officer to be in the dining area for crowd management. Regarding campus security generally, he said the crime rate at Penn Valley is no worse than at Longview, or other suburban colleges.
"We do have a security guard patrolling the parking area, have you seen him?"
Franklin admitted that tax tags sometimes do get stolen off license plates on parked cars, but he said the security officer can only monitor one area at a time. He pointed out that sticker theft is a relatively common crime that occurs elsewhere besides Penn Valley.
MCC discrimination policies were criticized by a student who said she had been victimized at times for being lesbian. She said the way it stands now, MCC does not officially prohibit such discrimination.
Franklin said he too would like to see changes made, and mentioned that such issues had been raised by the BSA demonstration last spring.
"Right now," he said, "we really have no specific policy, except against general harassment." He reminded the guests that sometimes students can accomplish more change through working together than he could on his own.
One final discussion was about bookstore textbook buyback policies. A student said he was fed up with the whole textbook publishing racket, which forces students to pay large sums for books that the bookstore often can't or won't buy back at reasonable prices. He suggested a textbook rental program, such as the one in use at Southeast Missouri State and Central Missouri State Universities.
Franklin said it sounded interesting and asked for further research. Street agreed and said she would follow up by bringing the idea to MCC administration at their December meeting.
As time drew to a close, Franklin thanked the students for their thoughts and suggestions. Plenty of pizza, salad and cookies were left over, so he encouraged all to take home whatever could be packed.
"Hey, the kids'll eat it," said one mother, loading up a box. "This is how I do Treat America!"
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