Drew Larson, president of the Inter-Residence Hall Association, looked down the table to where Thomas Hill and Todd Holcomb sat, and asked them how serious the administration was about a student advisory council.

“We’re as serious as you all are,” Hill replied.

Citing a growing discontent among students with Iowa State’s Department of Residence, a group of student leaders met Wednesday with Hill, vice president for student affairs and Holcomb, interim director of the Department of Residence, to further plans for a student advisory council.

Events in recent years — among the most wounding the closings of Barton Hall and Helser Hall with very little warning to residents — prompted a group of residence hall leaders to approach Hill about establishing an umbrella organization to encompass all residence hall councils.

The council would work more closely with the DOR in hopes of alleviating some of the tension between students and the department, the group’s proponents said.

“One of the problems we’ve had in the past is communication,” Larson said. “A lot of our problems can be attributed to that. This is a way to make sure students are involved, or at least have an understanding of why decisions are being made, how they’re being made, and possibly having a voice in those decisions.”

Hill said he supported the idea, saying the group’s existence would help to solve other problems as well, such as the lack of communication among student residence councils. The new group, he said, would be privy to nearly all the DOR’s decisions — as well as disclosures and explanations of financial records.

“There will be no secrets,” Hill said of the group’s possibilities. “You’re paying money into this, and you’re going to see how it’s spent.”

Hill said, he expected the group’s members to disseminate the information and therefore stem the tide of griping aimed at DOR officials over controversial issues.

The official proposal put forth by the students cited lost beds, declining dorm occupancy, the dire financial situation facing the DOR and growing skepticism of the DOR’s policies and awareness of student interests as reasons for creating the council.

The proposed council would serve as a liaison between the residence halls and the DOR, helping to present the student perspective and brainstorm ideas.

It would be composed of one member from each of the main residence communities — Frederiksen Court, Richardson Court Association, Towers Residence Association, Union Drive Association, and University Family Housing.

The council, organizers say, is very much still in the planning stages, and there are still obstacles to be overcome. Unity from the residence groups is needed, Hill said. Larson said no representative from the Towers came to the meeting.

Still, Hill, Holcomb and the residence hall leaders in attendance seem optimistic about the council’s potential future. Also positive about the prospect of an umbrella corporation for residence matters was Sophia Magill, president of the Government of the Student Body.