As a part of their continued listening tour, Gordon Emslie, Provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, and Gordon Baylis, vice president for Research, listened to student concerns this afternoon in the Mass Media and Technology Hall auditorium.

The next discussion will be 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 at the same place.

A handful of students expressed concerns about personal experiences they’ve had at WKU, some offering suggestions for improvement.

Bowling Green senior Kyle Golden, an architectural and manufacturing sciences major, said he wants to go to graduate school in state, but since the University of Kentucky dropped its program, he no longer has that option.

Because Golden is from Kentucky, he said he wants to continue to live and work here and pay in-state tuition.

Golden, along with several other AMS majors, said they think many – about two-thirds – of the WKU graduates in their program would stay at WKU if they had that option.

Emslie said for a new degree program to start, there must be the faculty available, student demand and resources available, among other factors.

If other schools don’t want the program, then it may be WKU’s place to step up, he said.

Baylis said he wants people to think ahead and be strategic in how they plan to move the university forward.

After the meeting, Emslie said the student feedback was very helpful.

The students are clearly interested in and concerned about things that affect their education, he said.

Hearing student feedback is a part of his promise to listen for the first 6 months at WKU before making any major decisions, he said.