The Student Union Board (SUB) set out to improve traditional campus events and generate new ideas this year, with the help of student feedback, SUB manager Julia Sutton said.
"We want to get as much input as possible," Sutton said. "The goal is to come up with more interesting, diverse programming to hit all corners of campus. We want everything we do to be overall better than it has been in the past."
SUB dorm representatives are especially instrumental in getting student feedback, she said.
"They're always asking their friends and other people in their dorm what things they would like to see happen on campus," Sutton said. "It's also a big part of how we advertise events."
Sutton said SUB is responsible for the planning of "old staples," such as Acousticafé, the Annual Collegiate Jazz Festival and AnTostal.
SUB also planned The White Panda concert at Legends in November, after the University canceled a scheduled performance from rapper Sam Adams.
"That was definitely one of our biggest events of the fall," Sutton said. "We really did well with the amount of time we had to throw it together."
Sutton said that SUB's success with the last minute headliner change was largely due to Internet advertising.
"Students spend most of their day on the computer, and we want to be wherever students are," she said. "With this year's limited emailing options, we've really had to pull together and rely on social networking sites, which I feel we have done well."
SUB was also responsible for bringing quarter dogs back to the Huddle during midterm week in October.
"Quarter Dog Week was one of those events where we really listened to the student body and it ended up being a pretty big deal to them," Sutton said. "It's a small cost to us and it's also great publicity for SUB."
She said SUB is looking at hosting another Quarter Dog Week in the spring.
SUB's weekend movies in DeBartolo Hall will undergo a few changes next semester, according to Sutton.
"We polled all of the students on SUB and asked them what movies they would really like to see," she said. "It won't just be limited to new releases, but we'll also be showing some old classics."
SUB is still in the early part of the planning process for their annual spring concert, but Sutton said, "It will be huge."
Although they had a slow start at the beginning of the year, Sutton said the group has worked out most of their issues and become more organized.
"The bulk of our program is next semester, with everything leading up to AnTostal," she said. "So far, events have gone really well and we've learned from the small snags, so that we can run with it in the spring."
Grade: A-
Through the use of student feedback and improved advertising, SUB has expanded its reach and become a well known force on campus.
