One of Alfred University’s Student Officers discusses their role on campus.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Can you tell me about your role in Public Safety?
A: I’m a Student Supervisor, it’s a bridge between the chief and the students, just to make sure that there’s communication between everybody and everyone’s getting the same information. Basically, I’m making sure all the student officers are following the rules, getting informed properly, and knowing how to enforce the rules.
Q: Do you think this bridge between students and officers is important?
A: For sure. Just for the fact that we are students (…) our primary focus is school and I understand if you don’t know all the rules because you’re in school. I feel like me being there providing them with information and just helping them make a smooth transition from being a student to being a student worker. So I feel like it’s essential.
Q: Would you consider yourself a peer mediator?
A: Yes, I feel like the importance is communication and knowing how to communicate. You need to know how to communicate with all types of people.
Q: So you deal with them on a more personal level?
A: Yes that’s what my goal is, to deal with everyone on a more personal level. How I do that with Public Safety is a group meeting, so I will just check in with them daily. Also, Scott (Richardson) will check with them bi-weekly or monthly, just to let them know what’s going on with all students just so that he can know we’re all good.
Q: Do you think the Public Safety Officers trust you and the other supervisors?
A: I think they do, Amy Dekay and Scott Richardson were huge advocates for student officers. I feel like Scott and Amy trusted me and the other Student Supervisor. So I believed that they trusted us of our track records on campus and they allowed us to convince them that the student officers were under control.