The 2015-2016 school year has brought many changes to Ashland University. From the academic prioritization to the presidential search, students have been experiencing a pivotal transition in the university’s history. With these changes occurring, whether students have been actively participating or not is questioned.

Freshman Sophia Leddy decided to become involved with Student Senate and has been actively participating in the presidential search.  However, Leddy says that student interest in these changes can easily vary depending on what students are interested in. 

“Some of my friends are not going (to the presidential candidate sessions) because they trust the university to make the correct choice,” says Leddy. “Others don’t trust bureaucracy and are actively involved in the choice.” 

The university has been making efforts to actively communicate with the student population about these changes.  These methods of communication include mass emails through Public Relations as well as offering opportunities for students to sit in on presentations given by presidential candidates. Whether all students are taking the opportunity to participate in the conversation is up for debate.

Sophomore Nicholas Bartulovic has been pleased by the communication, yet argues that as a member of Senate, it is hard to miss knowing about these sort of things. 

“For the rest of the student body, I cannot say how happy I am with the one PR email I received about the search committee, along with the one email I received about the dates when the prospective presidents will be coming,” says Bartulovic. “I feel like most of those went ignored by the general student body.”

Senior Morgan Phillips says that it is more likely that students who are invested in campus and are in multiple organizations are more likely to pay attention to the presidential search.  

With such low participation in the conversation, it is possible that the overall student morale is low. 

“I think it is hard to explain what the overall student morale is because there is a large group of people who love Ashland, but there is also a large group of people who dislike Ashland,” says Phillips. “As a graduating senior, I am interested in (changes like the presidential) search because I want to know what is going to happen when I leave Ashland.” 

Bartulovic believes that student morale is very good but lacking. ”Everyone seems to be happy about their current status in the university,” says Bartulovic. “I feel that many are unaware of the changes that are taking place, along with how much they actually have the ability to change…we all need to be involved and show that we all care.”