Bridging the gap, getting closer to the administration

The Sigma Alpha Delta Honor Society hosted a President and Dean's Reception on Thursday to give Baruch students the opportunity to meet with members of the administration.

President Mitchel Wallerstein, along with the deans of Baruch's academic schools and other leaders on campus took the stage at the event to tell students about their jobs and what they were doing for the school. A Q+ A session and a networking event followed, allowing the audience members to speak one-on-one with the school's leaders.

A major theme throughout the afternoon was the wide gap between students and administration at Baruch, which Sigma said they were aiming to bridge with events like this. During his speech, Provost James McCarthy addressed the fact that most Baruch students have no idea who make up the administration and Wallerstein expressed plans to make himself available to meet with students on campus.  

Even though the event's attendees made up no more than about 1 percent of the student body, the reception was an excellent beginning to making administrators more accessible. It is unfortunate that the average Baruch student has never heard if their president or VP of Student Affairs Ben Corpus because these are the people who make the decisions about our future.

Of course, it is not possible for most of Baruch's 17,000 students to be buddies with President Wallerstein or VP of Student Affairs Corpus. Still, it is important that all students know they have the right to contact these administrators if they have questions or concerns. Though the contact information for Baruch's president and deans could stand to be a bit more accessible - that information is not immediately visible on their respective pages - every staff and faculty member's email and phone number can be found through a quick search of the directory on the school's website.

Most important though, is to keep abreast of what is happening on campus and take advantage of whatever opportunities exist to meet your school's VIPs.