SGA President Jana Robinson recently traveled to Washington D.C. with fellow SGA presidents in the UL system to address higher education issues with senators and congressman.
Along with Louisiana’s senators and congressmen, Robinson met with the Department of Education.
She was able to bring up issues she sees around campus and propose ideas on how to fix them.
“It’s affecting Louisiana and should concern them,” Robinson said.
Robinson felt that each conversation she had was productive and they showed genuine interest. Robinson said that some of them seemed more eager to hear their thoughts, such as Mary Landrieu.
“We had a really long conversation. All of them were attentive, but she just stood out. I feel like she’s really going to take what we said into consideration and try to act on it,” Robinson said.
One of the main issues were the new guidelines concerning Pell Grants and their availability over the summer term.
A few years ago they stopped giving them out in the summer and Robinson said it affects students in nursing programs and programs that run in the summer.
“They can’t get financial aid so in order to get money to pay for school they take out more than they need to and that’s never a good situation,” Robinson said.
Graduation rate was another concern. According to Robinson, the first institution a student attends is credited the graduate, should they complete their degree in six years.
“We’re a feeder school, we have a lot of students come in from community college. If we could have it that where the last two years are spent are what count, that thats where the graduation rate goes to, would be a better method,” Robinson said.
Shaniece Mitchell, sophomore dental hygiene major, hopes to see senators and congressmen take Robinson’s words to heart.
“Most students who take summer classes need the money provided by Pell Grants to take vital classes,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell showed concern over students no longer receiving financial aid from Pell Grants over the summer. Mitchell hopes that the graduation rate calculation system will be changed.
“It’s not fair that our university isn’t getting credit for our graduates. Hopefully hearing from a student about these issues will help,” Mitchell said.
Robinson enjoyed the chance to tour the capitol, but did not see many student-led groups talking with senators.
“We saw a bunch of groups walking up to each senator, but a lot of them weren’t students. They weren’t in our age range. More students should be involved, even those that aren’t SGA,” Robinson said.
Robinson said the senators described living in D.C. as living in a bubble, cut off from their home state and unable to truly know what is going on.
“They don’t really realize what’s going on back home. It’s really important that they stay informed, especially hearing from a student, because we are the ones that are facing the issues,” Robinson said.
Eight of the nine presidents in the UL system were able to attend, each a good friend of Robinson. Each night they would go out together and explore the city.
“We’re a very diverse group of students, and we all get along really well,” Robinson said.
Robinson found the experience to be productive and enlightening, and hopes that their message will stay with those they spoke with.
