Outgoing Student Association Director of Student Programming senior Molly Downey presents spring concert policy changes at the Wednesday April 26 SA meeting. The policy will break spring concert funding up into individual concerts that SA will transport students to in the area. The changes were made after students expressed dissatisfaction with the current system, believing that the $80,000 concert budget was being wasted on artists that didn’t appeal to most students. (Ash Dean/Photo Editor)
Geneseo’s Student Association approved a proposal to change how the college organizes the annual spring concert.
Up until now, Geneseo Campus Activities Board had issued surveys throughout the duration of the year to gauge student interest in genres, artists and musical interests before eventually selecting an artist. After the changes, however, the annual concert is no longer; now, students will be transported to various concerts by different artists throughout the course of the year.
The decision was finalized at the SA meeting on Wednesday April 26 as a part of GCAB’s move to listen to student feedback regarding the current model of selection of an artist for the spring concert, according to outgoing SA Director of Student Programming senior Molly Downey.
“If we can adjust the model to give more options and more variety to students, then it’s worth the time to try and figure out to see if that’s going to be a better model,” Downey said.
There were issues with SA’s original model resulting in student dissatisfaction and higher expenses for the school, according to outgoing SA President senior Michael Baranowski.
“Some students are upset by the choice that we’re making and it’s getting quite expensive to try and even bring in some decently known act,” Baranowski said. “There’s an $80,000 budget and this year we spent almost every dollar of that in order to make a concert happen.”
This move is not only meant to be cost-efficient; it is also meant to serve a wider array of student interests. The school will continue to issue surveys to gather information regarding what artists and genres students prefer as well as what days work best for students to attend a concert. Afterward, the school will purchase tickets at various concerts at different local venues that reflect those varying musical preferences.
“It will be first-come, first-serve basis; students will pick up tickets at the SA ticket office, and then we’ll get busing for them to leave from the Union,” Downey said. “We’ll be able to serve students in smaller groups, but for a variety of different options.”
Student feedback has been positive so far, according to Baranowksi.
“It seemed like people were pretty responsive,” he said. “Hopefully this will be something that can just revamp the concert idea at Geneseo.”
Geography and anthropology double major senior Sarah Kowalski said she thinks that the ability to appeal to multiple, distinct groups makes it a better system.
“I think that it would be a good idea because it would provide a greater variety of groups with different musical backgrounds and genres for students,” she said. “My friends can be in slight disagreements over the genre that’s chosen every year. So it would be nice to use that local opportunity.”
Childhood special education and piano performance double major sophomore Taylor Chiola voiced her support after learning that it would help manage the expense of the concert.
“When I first heard about it, I didn’t even realize it was going to be more cost-effective. At first, it sounded as if it was going to be more expensive to transport students, but now that I’ve realized the way scheduling works out, I think it’s probably a good idea,” Chiola said.
GCAB will continue to work throughout the summer and during the fall semester to finalize details. SA hopes to better serve students and to see student interest in the selection process for the spring concert rise, according to Downey.
“We want to be able to give students a variety of dates, a variety of artists and a variety of options on how they can see musical acts,” Downey said. “Our point is just to enhance the musical connections that students can build while at Geneseo.”