Student Affairs shares goal to foster opportunities for dialogue

It is essential for university administrators and staff to
encourage ongoing communication with students. At UCLA Student
Affairs, we value that ongoing dialogue with students enormously
and always look for ways to foster collaborations and long-term
relationships.

At UCLA, the level and quality of student involvement is very
impressive. Students’ responsibilities are far-reaching and
significant, such as serving on student government and key
committees, like the Associated Students of UCLA Board of Directors
and the Student Fee Advisory Committee. And these students rightly
expect to be well informed.

While we communicate with students on many issues regularly,
there is more we can do.

Increasing opportunities for effective dialogue is an important
goal, from smaller gatherings to allow for greater give-and-take,
to meetings with the same group over a period of time to work on
evolving issues and promote collaboration.

Moreover, we hope students know our staff is available to hear
their concerns, provide resources and good referrals across campus,
and welcome their feedback and ideas.

As a community, we need to get to a point where we agree that we
are true partners in providing all students with the best possible
academic experience and where we agree that we do have common goals
and aspirations. A high level of trust and respect is crucial.

While it might be virtually impossible to eliminate entirely an
adversarial tone in some discussions between students and members
of the administration, we have to try very hard to do so. It is
clear that we share a sincere desire for good communication. The
quality of that dialogue would be that much higher if we also
shared a measure of trust and respect.

Montero is the vice chancellor of UCLA Student
Affairs.