Communication between the student body and the Government of the Student Body has always been of the up most importance to GSB, now GSB is trying to branch off into a new line of communication between GSB and the Iowa State administration.

GSB is in the process of beginning what they are calling roundtable conversations with different heads of administration departments with the goal of achieving an open line of communication allowing both sides to work more effectively on issues and to improve the university.

“We are widening and establishing stronger connections with administrators which will allow us to work better on issues and also to work more efficiently,” said GSB Director of Student Affairs Spencer Hughes, a junior in speech communication.

The idea was spawned at a GSB Executive Cabinet retreat Sept. 15, where executive cabinet members met with administrators Director of Department of Residence Pete Englin, Assistant Vice President for Student Counseling Service Terry Mason, Director of Student Health Michelle Hendricks, and Dean of Students Pamela Anthony.

“This meeting allowed us to talk candidly with the administrators about what’s on our mind,” said Hughes.

During this meeting the administrators and cabinet members talked about what each side needed to be done and also discussed the need for getting student feedback more efficiently. One idea was to implement a feedback system which would be convenient enough for students to use and able to get feedback to administrators with more ease.

“The idea was that if we can help them they can help us the students better,” said GSB Chief of Staff Andrew Gall, a senior in mechanical engineering.

Currently the whole process is still a work in progress, but the plan is for a mix of members from the executive cabinet and the GSB senate to meet with a couple different administrators in a small group roundtable discussion. Gall projected that they would have meetings starting in about two to three weeks.

“We are trying to start a dialogue between the administrators and GSB,” said Gall. “We’re out there on the front line talking to students every day and this will allow us to pass on issues more conveniently.”

So far the executive cabinet has received positive reactions from the group of administrators who partook in the first meeting. With this two-way-street relationship, Gall thinks that this will allow GSB to help address issues the university has and allow for more student input to be considered during matters.

“We think it will allow for better communication with the student body and the administration to address certain issues,” said Hughes.