Marquette Student Government President Meghan Ladwig announced Thursday that she and the MUSG Executive Board met last week with the University Leadership Council, a group consisting of all the university’s deans and vice presidents. AZ

Ladwig, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said MUSG stressed the importance of student input within university decision-making during the meeting with the council.

She said one example of administrators working effectively with students is the ongoing talks regarding the building of a new recreational facility.

Earlier this year during an MUSG meeting, Ladwig expressed disappointment that students did not have any input in the selection of the Rev. Scott Pilarz as the university’s next president. She did acknowledge, however, that the decision was made both quickly and during the summer, two factors that would have made student involvement difficult.

Ladwig also said students should be involved in resolving issues some students currently have with advising.

She said Monday that in a 2009 online MUSG survey, students identified advising as an area they had issues with in the past. She said it has been on the MUSG radar for a number of years.

The other topic MUSG stressed to the University Leadership Council was a better sense of inclusion for “underrepresented groups on campus.” She said the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community is one example of such a group, and that the university should look to promote a more “unified and inclusive student body.”

Programming Vice President Carly Nusser, a senior in the College of Communication, announced this past week’s “To Write Love on Her Arms” speaker Jamie Tworkowski was a “phenomenal success,” with about 400 students in attendance last Tuesday night.

She also announced that Dr. Drew Pinsky of VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” will be speaking in the Alumni Memorial Union’s ballroom this Thursday at 8 p.m.

During the meeting, the senate also passed an amendment to the MUSG constitution. The amendment provides a transition period for the Communications Vice President, who previously had little time to become accustomed to his or her position, according to the amendment’s presenter Sara Magrath, a senior in the College of Nursing.

The communications vice president will now begin his or her term on Feb. 15 of a given year whereas before it was April 15 of that year, according to the amendment.