Three students who have been working alongside administrators from the Penn State Division of Student Affairs in the planning of a new programming board held an open student forum last night to get feedback and answer questions.

Abbey Rhode, who hosted the forum in the Business Building along with Jacob Dixon and Mark Taticchi, introduced the board's concept to the six students in attendance as "a large student group designed to put on programs marketed toward the entire campus."

Taticchi said that instead of simply going to the University Park Allocations Committee (UPAC) to obtain funds for programming, student organizations would be able to rely on the new board for publicity, advertising and co-sponsorship of events.

"They would work jointly with groups," Taticchi said, adding that other schools in the Big Ten and around the country have already implemented programming boards at their schools, though he was not yet sure if Penn State's board would resemble any of those.

Administrators said they hope to propose a constitution by the end of this semester. In the fall, they said they plan to recruit students to lead the board so they can begin programming in spring 2007.

A member of the audience, Richard Pastena (senior-accounting), said he was worried about the ability of small organizations to effectively produce programs if a new board came about. Rhode responded by emphasizing that she thinks a programming board could help get the word out about a program, thus making it more successful. "Right now, there are lots of programs that go through UPAC that aren't well-publicized," Rhode said.

Brian Battaglia (graduate-aerospace engineering) asked why student affairs administrators were getting involved in the formation of the new programming board and how much they would ultimately influence programming at Penn State once the new board was set up.

Taticchi said the student-administrator composition of the new board was something that they hoped to balance out, adding that the effectiveness of the board would be regularly reviewed, and possibly altered, for a few years after it is established.

Vicky Triponey, vice president for student affairs, said a small, professional staff would most likely advise the students on the board.

After the meeting, Rhode said she had a better idea of student views on the new board.

"It would have been nice if more people came, but I thought the discussion we had was a good one," she said.

No administrators were present at last night's meeting. On Wednesday, Taticchi said, there will be another open meeting in the HUB Auditorium, with most of the students and administrators involved in the board's planning.

Battaglia, who said he plans to attend Wednesday's meeting, said he learned a lot at last night's meeting about what had been set up for the new board.

"I thought it was very informative, although a lot of things still seem uncertain in the planning stages," he said.