By Aubrey Headrick

Student Advisory Councils (SAC) have been instituted for the Business and Music Divisions of Cornerstone University.

These councils serve as a clear channel of communication between the student body and the faculty. Donna Bohn, chair of the Fine Arts Division, and Brad Stamm, chair of the Business Division, are heads of the separate councils.

The students on the councils do not have specific roles but rather work as a focus group. The advisers are a listening ear, and the council members address issues raised by the student body. Council members also generate ideas for activities to promote community.

“It’s going to make us a program better able to serve our students,” Stamm said.

Feedback ranges from ideas on fun events to concerns about curriculum. The business students will be starting up a new business club, and the music department will be having a fun event in the spring to gather students and faculty.

Both Stamm and Bohn want the council meetings to be informal, and to meet about once a month. This gives the members time to hear concerns, generate ideas and then share the ideas with the advisors. The meetings will be a discussion forum; a “think tank,” according to Stamm.

Both instructors want the students to know that they value their opinion.

“We want all the students to feel that there is a connection…that we are willing to listen to their concerns,” Bohn said. “I’m serious about listening. I don’t want to just hear what they have to say, but I want to implement also,” Stamm said.

It is Bohn’s and Stamm’s hope that all the students will feel comfortable going to their fellow students on the council and voice their concerns, which in turn will come to their attention in the consistent meetings they are planning.

The students selected to be members of the councils were chosen via differing methods in the two departments. The professors of the Business Division nominated those students they felt would be beneficial to this new team. Sixteen individuals were selected. The music majors nominated students and then voted for the three they wanted on their council.

Members of both councils are excited to be a part. Rachel Wiard, a senior with a major in business administration and a student assistant in the Business Division, said, “SAC was created to be the students’ voice, to encourage community, and to promote a healthy working relationship between faculty and students.”

Sam Longo, a business finance major in her junior year, is excited for the “great difference” the SAC will make in the division.

“We’re just starting to get our feet wet!” she said.

The SAC for the Business Division will be evaluating programs, internships and domestic and international opportunities. They are exploring what avenues and opportunities will provide beneficial employment and future relationships.

Aaron Turner, a senior music education major, said, “I would love to see the council help alleviate miscommunication and build a better student faculty relationship. In addition, I think that the council is going to help unite the music department as a community.”

Briana Bolthouse, a junior with a major in music education with a trumpet emphasis, laid out some of the ideas they have presented.

“So far, we’ve put together two fun projects, which will bring together the students in the music department,” she said. “Jared Kellogg is designing a music department T-shirt that everyone will be able to order, and I’m working on a student-led music department newsletter. Aaron Turner has posted our information in the music building so that students can contact us whenever they want.”

“We want the students to know that they have a voice in the department,” Bohn said. “We are here to serve the students and to really help them grow as musicians and followers of Jesus Christ.”