Pace’s Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Uday Sukhatme, hosted a Brown Bag Lunch event for students to network and discuss changes they want to see to the campus with Pace administrators Friday afternoon in the dining area of Choate House.

Freshman Ally Rodriguez said she wanted to see Pace have more activity in the town of Pleasantville and that she currently feels uncomfortable there. Associate Vice President and Dean for Students, Lisa Bardill Moscaritolo, suggested that the University should introduce students to the town during orientation.

Moscaritolo also mentioned that the university has been holding community meetings with the village to address concerns, particularly with the behavior of students in the town’s bars.

“We try to have meetings with the community leaders and some of the bar owners too because we do get concerned with some of the drinking, with some of our students being over served,” Moscaritolo said. “We also have meetings because unfortunately, there is sometimes behavior that is inappropriate from our students.”

Student Government Associate President (SGA), Mitch Farrell, spoke about how SGA is working on a contract with the ride-sharing service, Lyft, to provide a safer means of travel in Pleasantville.

Farrell also wants to create safer pathways in town, since often times students walk in the middle of roads and get $50 tickets for jaywalking.

Sukhatme then spoke about Starfish, a new program that Pace is implementing this semester so that professors can give feedback to their students through online notifications. The program is shared with the student’s advisor so they can reach out to the student if they detect issues.

“Starfish is an opportunity for your professors to indicate how you’re doing in class. They can say things like ‘great job’, ‘really doing well’, or they may be some concerns [like attendance, poor grades on assignments, and tardiness],” Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Adelia Williams said. “It gives you an opportunity to see how you’re doing throughout the semester in an informal way. It’s not a grade.”

A student then raised a concern about there not being enough transportation between Pace’s campuses, especially when it comes to students getting from New York City (NYC) to Pleasantville. Farrell said that this is something that the NYC’s SGA had asked Pleasantville’s SGA to look at implementing.

The forum then moved into a discussion about how students feel unsafe because the campus has poor lighting in certain areas, like Townhouse Hill, Martin, and North. Moscaritolo said the administration is looking to improve the lighting.

“I feel like the bus stops are kind of dark. [Walking back to my dorm in Alumni] can seem kind of terrifying,” Rodriguez said.

Finally, when the Pace IOS application (app) was mentioned, Sukhatme discussed how the administration is going to work with the Information Technology company EAB to create a new app that has more functionality than the current one. However, this process is not going to start for at least six months.

Rodriguez felt like this meeting was highly beneficial for her.

“I think openly discussing issues with multiple people [was beneficial]. For example, the lighting and bus issues. I didn’t even know people got ticketed for jaywalking,” Rodriguez said. “Just to be aware is really important. Not just for me, but anyone that I know. You have got to be careful.”