Fellow Senators

State Sen. Mike Goschka shakes hands with Student Senate President Thomm Bell as GVSU Vice President Matt McLogan looks on.

A half dozen students gathered in the Kirkhof Center last week to visit with state Sen. Mike Goschka (R-Brant) and to give him a sense of what they value about Grand Valley.

'I felt a sense of community was really strong. If students want to get involved, as I did, the door is open,' said John Leech.

Other students spoke of smaller class sizes, new classes, and accessible faculty that drew them to Grand Valley. Brandon Avery, a journalism major from Detroit, said that he is surprised by the diversity of opinions and activities he finds. 'It's amazing to have a university on this side of the state that has so many points of view,' he said.

Gathering ideas about what works in higher ed is a goal for Goschka, who represents Gratiot and Saginaw counties. In January, Goschka was named chair of the Senate higher education appropriations subcommittee. He toured Grand Valley campuses with President Mark A. Murray as part of his plan to visit each of Michigan's 15 public universities and colleges.

Goschka said that he is waiting along with the rest of the state to see the 2004 budget to be presented by Gov. Jennifer Granholm on March 6. With a $1.8 billion gap in current spending and budget projections, some new reductions in higher education are expected, he said.

'Once we know what the recommendations are we';ll work hard to establish a type of 'floor funding' so that each school is guaranteed a minimum amount of funding per student,' he said, acknowledging that Grand Valley has among the lowest per-student funding in the state.

Before he left, Goschka encouraged students to add to their knowledge of history and literature, and to continue to get involved in the Grand Valley community. 'You guys will help make the personality of this school what it's going to be,' he said. 'Whatever your goal is for this university, you can do it.'