Naniette Coleman, addressing senators at their April 1 meeting along with new SA Vice President Ron Kubiak, said that in past years there had been a problem with information circulating between SA, the student body, faculty members and the UB administration.

"Commonly, we walk forward on hearsay or opinion, instead of just going to each other and discussing (issues)," she said. "So we'd like to increase the possibility of coming to the table" to discuss issues "so that we have a common understanding and can move forward."

Coleman outlined several initiatives she said she would like to put into place to improve communication, including setting up permanent e-mail accounts for SA officers and setting aside a "regular hour of interaction" every weekday when there are no classes scheduled "so when we have an event that students and faculty should attend," such as committee meetings or rallies, "everybody will have time to attend it."

Establishing a free period during the day would allow more faculty members to become involved in student clubs and more students to sit on committees, she said. "It will offer us the opportunity to have that communication we don't necessarily have right now," she said, noting that two-thirds of the student body reside off campus. Once students leave campus, they are "unreachable" unless they take a copy of the Spectrum, the Reporter or the Generation with them, she added.

"Every step of the way, we'd like to work on communication," she stressed.

Senate Chair Peter Nickerson, professor of pathology, urged Coleman and Kubiak to have a representative attend FSEC meetings because "the issues we talk about directly affect students."

Coleman suggested that the FSEC and SA have a joint meeting to discuss "issues of the university." She also said she has spoken with Dennis Black, interim vice president for student affairs, about pairing up student affairs staff with members of SA "and having regular conversations about issues going on on-campusŠSo that when we all come to the table, it's just not with our knowledge about what we read in the Spectrum or the Reporter.

"It's just all of us taking the time to contact each other."