A UNO Student Union

Students who take classes at UNO face unique problems and challenges. We need a dedicated body of representatives to help voice our concerns.

We are creating a new student organization that will work alongside the Student Advocacy Board to gather student opinions and ideas on the UNO campus, advise the administration on changes and solutions that would benefit students at UNO, and improve communication between the two campuses.

It's hard to be heard when you're half a mile away

Currently, there is no direct mediator for addressing issues that students have related to UNO classes, the walk to UNO, or any other issues that may arise from having two separate campuses. While there is some representation on the Student Advocacy Board, the majority of their work is necessarily focused on the Katherine Johnson campus.

We believe a new representative body focused specifically on UNO problems, solutions, and improvements could vastly improve everyone’s experience in the dual-campus system.

We sent out a survey to students taking classes at UNO. Of the students who responded, over 80% had two or more classes at UNO, showcasing the large number of students making the long commute from BFHS campus to UNO campus on every other day.

The amount of time it takes respondents to walk to UNO ranges from 5-12 minutes, despite the 10 minute passing period. About half, 56.1%, have 4th period at UNO and 12.5% of students take the RTA bus to go home. In regards to the RTA bus, two students said it’s a 15 minute walk to the bus while one said it takes 22 minutes and another said it’s between 15 and 22 minutes. 

In general, many of the students we surveyed were concerned about the walk to UNO during inclement weather. One student even said it gives them a headache to walk in the rain. Some of the respondents suggested we need to have consistent rain gear available for inclement weather days. Others said they have no time to go to the bathroom or to their locker during passing periods that involve getting to UNO. Some respondents reported feeling unsafe ("As she was walking to class, she was being followed"). Another concern was the lack of time students are given when eating lunch, since the walk to and from UNO consumes much more of the lunch period than for students who have classes on the main campus. One student said their lunch time was cut from 40 minutes to 20 minutes due to her UNO classes and the strictness of our tardiness policy. 

This is just an example of the kind of data a dedicated UNO Student Union can provide.

We are proposing the creation of a UNO Student Union that aims to collect, address, and resolve BFHS students' issues with anything relating to having classes at UNO.

Some examples of issues we hope to address:

• Improving UNO/BFHS intercommunication

• The Inclement Weather Plan

• The difficulties of getting to the RTA Bus from the UNO campus 

• Safety for all students, greater accomodations for students with disabilities 

Trade-offs

• It's a lot of work to maintain

• There will be overlap and some inevitable redundancies with the work of the Student Advocacy Board

Benefits

• A dedicated organization for improving the UNO experience for everyone

• Better data for better decision-making

• Stakeholders will be more easily available for consultation and advice

• Excellent leadership experience for students who participate