Board looks for continued progress with new leaders
As the USCU elections come to a close, student boards on other parts of campus are looking for new faces to fill leadership positions during the upcoming school year.
The Wardenburg Student Health Board is one group that is looking to elect students to fill board positions by the end of spring semester, and it took Wednesday night’s meeting to recap recent successes with the hopes of continuing the positive momentum.
“We have really come a long way,” said Gary Chadwick, the director of Wardenburg. “Our successes are what the health board has pushed for, what they wanted and what they got.”
The Wardenburg Student Health Board is the governing body of Wardenburg Health Center and makes decisions on matters regarding student health insurance, indigent care, community health, and management of the health center.
“We’re here to represent students, make educated decisions for students and speak up for students,” said Collier Wright, a senior integrative physiology major and junior co-chair of the student health board.
Although the board is soon to elect students to fill most executive positions, Wright will automatically become the senior co-chair due to his current position as junior co-chair.
In discussing his goals for next year, Wright emphasized keeping up the momentum that Chadwick has built up in his 16 months as director of Wardenburg.
The board already has a lot to build on.
Among other highlights from the past year and a half, Chadwick talked about increased efficiency and timeliness with patient care, a remodel and reorganization of the medical clinic, and the establishment of an internal review committee that evaluates each department of Wardenburg.
Wright said that in the coming year he wants to continue a regular reviewing schedule of each department in order to keep up efficiency and hold people more accountable. He also said he believes constant interaction between board members and Wardenburg staff is beneficial to both sides.
“It helps keep up community and it is nice to talk to department managers face to face,” Wright said.
Wright said he plans to keep up communication and a sense of community among board members, which current senior co-chair Lindsay Monett said she has worked on as well.
“I have wanted the board to be more tight-knit and feel more comfortable with each other,” said Monett, a senior integrative physiology major. She said improved communication about insurance and indigent care cases has also helped decrease frustration within the board.
Monett also said she would like for students to see more of a connection between UCSU and the Wardenburg student health board, especially on both Web sites.
Among Wardenburg’s ongoing goals, Monett and Wright agreed on the necessity to create an affordable health insurance plan that adequately addresses the many different populations on campus, from 18-year-olds to graduate students with families.
“We need to keep costs down not only for students but also from a business perspective,” Wright said.
Monet added that currently Wardenburg is the lowest student-fee funded cost center among the Big 12 schools, making it especially important for Wardenburg to make its insurance plans attractive to students in order to gain additional revenue.
From dealing with budgets, to relations with UCSU, to efficiency of patient care, Wright emphasized that board members have to be well-versed in politics, health care and business. He said students applying for executive positions should also have relevant experience, the ability to commit time to the board, and a willingness to share personal opinions.
Monett said that the board needs to be taken seriously by students looking to join.
“This is a reputable board with tons of responsibilities,” she said. “We want to avoid accepting students who just want a resume booster.”
Chadwick agreed on the importance of students’ role on the health board.
“You guys have a $12 million budget,” Chadwick told the board. “This isn’t some sort of student council, it is a governing board.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Emery Cowan at emerycowan@thecampuspress.com.
