A town hall meeting between students and upper-level administrators will take place today at 5 p.m. in the Busch Student Center ballrooms. Students who attend will be able to discuss their perspectives with the University’s chief decision-makers including University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J.

“This is students’ chance to directly affect huge decisions,” said Student Government Association President Sam Howard, who organized the event.

The meeting will begin with a short presentation from CFO Bob Woodruff on the annual University budgeting process, then students will have a chance to speak their minds. This will be the first time most students will have a chance to provide input on the budget before it is finalized. In the past, SGA presidents were solely responsible for representing their constituents during budget planning.

“There are no secrets with the budget process,” Woodruff said. “[Students will be able to] discuss the important aspects of the budget, enrollment, tuition, financial aid and other areas of spending.”

After the budget presentation, students will have an opportunity to meet in small groups with administrators. While there will be suggested topics of discussion-including SLU’s efforts to “go green” and retention and recruitment-students will be able to bring up any issues they consider important.

Howard is optimistic about the meeting’s success: “My vision is that it won’t just be me advocating for students at [administrative] meetings.”