President Harvey Stenger attended Monday night’s Student Congress meeting, which covered topics ranging from student housing to the lack of a University Plaza at Metroplex (UP) bus.

Stenger answered questions which members of the Congress had previously sent to him. Most of the questions touched on the rising student population at BU and how the University will handle this as housing sign-ups approach.

Referencing the Road Map Plan and the goal of 20,000 students by 2020, Stenger explained that the important part of this goal is to increase graduate student enrollment.

“We have historically been the best SUNY undergraduate program, and we have tried to maintain that,” Stenger said. “I think that having strong graduate programs brings faculty, faculty that are more active in research, who can teach at a higher level for graduate students, but can also teach at the freshman level.”

Stenger was asked about communication between administration and the student body, and he responded that he believes it is important for increased dialogue between different departments.

“The problem is we don’t tell you some things you need to know,” Stenger said. “That’s why I think having me, having some of the other administrators come in and talk to you on a regular basis, I think communication will be the best thing we can get out of this.”

Nicholas Ferrara, the BU student assembly representative and a junior majoring in political science, presented a new piece of legislation he had written which outlined the action students have taken toward having UP at Metroplex stay true to their promise of a Downtown shuttle.

“We’re trying to get the word out to UP and say we really don’t find this acceptable,” Ferrara said. “We would really like to see that they help students out and come through with their promises.”

Members of the Student Association (SA) executive board gave their reports, in which Dillon Schade, president, discussed the new app entitled “ETA Spot” which allows students to track Off Campus College Transport buses.

Ruslan Klafehn, the SA vice president for multicultural affairs and a sophomore majoring in political science, said that he has been working with the Binghamton Police Department to discuss racial profiling and how it affects students in the area.

“There are a lot of things being done in the community right now, but if nothing gets done or things aren’t done to the maximum level there is, I want to try to at least protect students here from that,” Klafehn said.

Ami Bhavsar, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, recently left her position as financial committee chair. On Monday evening, Ryan Sheppard, a senior double-majoring in geography and accounting, was unanimously elected to replace her. Richard Hoffer, a junior double-majoring in economics and mathematics, was elected as the vice speaker for Student Congress.