Student Council has begun to show more reverence toward its motto, "Your voice is our vision." At Tuesday night's meeting, Council formally unveiled Speak Up UVA, an online forum for students to publicly voice and vote on their concerns for the University. Though outlined Tuesday as part of Council's outreach initiatives for the year, the Web site has in fact been up and running since last spring.
Launched as part of Chief Technology Officer William Reynolds' bid for Council president, Speak Up UVA essentially works like a message board. Students can write in about the University issues they want to see addressed, and everyone is given ten votes to cast for the student suggestions they agree with most. Other than moderating the posts and updating the input categories, Council has little to do with managing the site. The content is provided almost entirely by students.
Speak Up UVA is the best tool Council has at its disposal to gauge student interest about different initiatives. If and when the Web site reaches its full potential, Council should ensure that the forum plays a meaningful role in setting its project agenda. To attain that degree of usefulness, however, students must not only know that the Web site exists, but also see that it is an evolving forum that their peers contribute to extensively. Council must take steps to guarantee this happens.
Simply getting the word out is not enough. Council has already stated its intention to use information flyers and library drop slips to promote the site, but it must go further. Students need to witness the forum's interactivity. To make that happen, the site's user input should become the focus of an ongoing promotional campaign. For example, Council could explore putting a feature on the Students section of the University's Web site, listing the three student proposals with the highest number of votes. Such a list could also be included on the HooView screens in Newcomb Hall. At the very least, Council should put a similar widget on its own Web site, though that would not generate nearly the exposure needed to reach the greater University community. The purpose is to let students see the site change frequently; this will catch their eyes and cue them in to the fact that others already used the forum.
Council has done well to limit the number of barriers to use the site: students are not required to log in before commenting or voting. However, Council must also consistently maintain the few pieces of the Web site it is responsible for updating. For instance, at least two of the suggestions listed currently - bringing back the New York Times to Grounds and providing free water at football games - can be marked as completed. Likewise, some ideas should be moved to the "accepted" section as soon as possible to show that student proposals are being taken seriously. This routine upkeep serves two purposes: keeping the site from looking defunct and showing that Council is making clear progress toward accomplishing student goals.
Speak Up UVA is the rare kind of campaign idea that is truly valuable and should not be tossed aside. Council must promote it vigorously and use the input meaningfully. If done well, this project could be the greatest single improvement in communications between Council and students in the organization's history. That is not a responsibility to take lightly.
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