Lindsey Sobkowski

With the start of the fall semester and a new academic year barely in the rearview mirror, the 2023-2024 Board of Trustees (BOT) Student Liaisons are wasting no time jumping into their roles.

The BOT Student Liaisons act as the voice of the students during meetings of the Board and serve to make sure the needs of students are addressed when the Board makes decisions. This year’s BOT Student Liaisons, Red Douglas and Payton Bucki, are excited to get to work addressing student concerns across campus and are especially committed to bolstering student engagement this year.

Douglas, a graduate student serving his second term in the position, has noted student engagement at Oakland University has dropped significantly in the post-COVID era, both in and out of the classrooms.

“There are crickets chirping in the classrooms,” Douglas said. “Between classes, instead of hanging out around campus and trying to meet people or engage with each other, people just go sit in their cars.”

Douglas views this lack of involvement as a major detriment to OU and its students, not only socially, but academically. He noted studies show retention of material significantly decreases for students who are not engaged.

Bucki, an undergraduate serving her first term as a BOT Student Liaison, also highlighted student engagement as a main area of concern for the campus moving forward. She stated her main goal is to address the general concerns of the student body while boosting the rate of involvement on campus.

While Bucki and Douglas certainly have big-picture goals in mind, both made it clear they want to address any concern that could make life easier for the student body, no matter how small the feedback may seem. 

Douglas and Bucki have noted their role allows them a direct line to the BOT, which gives them incredible problem-solving potential.  There is one problem, though — students are not complaining enough. 

“Faculty has reached out to us more than the students,” Douglas said. “[We] have a straight line to the president, and it’s a disservice to the student body if they don’t know they can come to us.”

Both Bucki and Douglas believe the BOT Student Liaisons have been under-utilized in the past, even though the position allows the representatives to serve as the voices of the student body at the Board’s meetings. Bucki and Douglas encourage students to approach them with feedback so they can effectively address student concerns in an amicable, productive manner.

According to Douglas, running a university is like running a little city. 

“There’s a lot going on, and the concerns of the student body can get lost in the shuffle if they are not brought to the Student Liaisons to be presented to the Board,” Douglas said.

If students have a concern they want to see addressed, one of the best recourses they have is to reach out to Bucki and Douglas at the BOT Student Liaison email, which is [email protected]. 

If students want to learn more about the position or are interested in serving as a future BOT Student Liaison, they can learn more at their webpage on the OU website.