Kunal Patel: Keep dialogue flowing between Napolitano, students

First impressions are the blueprints of how we judge, act and respond to others. And those impressions are very difficult to change.

On Friday, a small group of student leaders at UCLA will have the opportunity to make a first impression on University of California President Janet Napolitano, who is making her way to various UC campuses in the first weeks of her presidency.

Prior to the visits, the reactions to her appointment have been overwhelmingly negative from students across the UC.

But both Napolitano and students should seek to cement a relationship that persists beyond the second week of Napolitano’s presidency.

Given the controversy surrounding her appointment, Napolitano’s outreach effort in her second week as president of the UC is all the more impressive. Despite the negative feedback to her appointment, Napolitano is extending an olive branch to students on her tour of the UC campuses.

Napolitano’s tour is a well-calculated move to head off student worries that the new president will ignore their concerns. Through the visits, it seems Napolitano hopes to make a statement that she will not direct the UC exclusively from the Office of the President in Oakland.

UCLA students should take the opportunity to strengthen their relationship with Napolitano during her visit.

The effort on both ends to improve dialogue between students and the UC administration is all the more important in light of the backlash to Napolitano’s appointment across the UC.

The negative reaction began in the spring when the nomination was made public, coming to a head at the UC Board of Regents meeting in July when the nomination was confirmed, with students disrupting the meeting and protesting.

More recently, at the Undergraduate Students Association Council meeting on Oct. 1, councilmembers put forward a resolution with a “no confidence” clause that essentially stated Napolitano is unsuitable for her job, although that clause was dropped in the final resolution. Other UC student governments passed similar resolutions, with the Associated Students UC Irvine actually voting no confidence in Napolitano.

Nonetheless, Napolitano is now interested in keeping the students happy, as her new job is to foster economic and intellectual growth through the UC.

Naturally, students share the burden in fostering a relationship. USAC’s current strategy to involve students in the visit is to use social media to collect questions for Napolitano,said Darren Ramalho, USAC academics affairs commissioner, who is part of the group meeting with the UC president on Friday.

Students should take up this call, as social media is an effective way to communicate directly with the UC president, even after she returns to Oakland.

For her part, Napolitano should attempt to increase direct dialogue between the Office of the President and students, an attempt that many saw as unsuccessful under former UC President Mark Yudof.

In addition to continuing measures that Yudof took, such as regular meetings with the University of California Student Association, Napolitano should consider setting up an online forum on the UCOP website, where students can write about issues and show their support or opposition.

Any opportunity students have to speak directly with UCOP will detract from more divisive methods, like protests and disruptive tactics at meetings.

Student input is especially important given that tuition now surpasses state funding as a source of income for the UC.

Napolitano has every reason to, at the very least, hear the demands of students across all campuses and has a responsibility to try and address them.

Napolitano’s UC tour should not simply be a one-time deal to alleviate some of the negative pressure on her.

The relationship will only get better if both students and Napolitano continue such goodwill measures and encourage a policy of openness with each other after she returns to Oakland.

To ensure the University of California is run with the best interests of all its constituents in mind, student governments, individual students and Napolitano need to be actively involved in maintaining an open relationship.