On Thursday, Innovation Café on Centennial Campus will have a very important visitor – Chancellor Randy Woodson.

Chancellor Woodson is starting a new program, called ‘Chat with the Chancellor,’ that he hopes will better connect him to the student body.

“The Chat with the Chancellor is based on the idea of having an informal conversation with students,” Woodson said.

Connecting with students is one of the most important duties of a university chancellor, according to Woodson.

“I’m essentially the CEO of a large corporation, so I have responsibility for everything here,” Woodson said. “Students, from a corporation standpoint, are our most important customer. Everything we do is for students, to build up the educational environment that they aspire to be a part of,” Woodson said. “Like any CEO, you want to have opportunities to interact with your customers.”

While this event is occurring on Centennial Campus, future ‘Chat with the Chancellor’ events will be held at locations such as Nelson Hall and Park Shops, according to the Chancellor’s Office.

Joseph Beasley, a senior in political science, said he thinks this program has the potential to achieve its goal.

“These programs will achieve their goal if they can involve and include a diverse group of students from all majors, fields of study, and ages,” Beasley said.

Beasley also said that he thinks student interaction is essential for the Chancellor to be able to successfully carry out the duties of his job.

“The Chancellor makes a lot of important decisions that affect students everyday,” Beasley said. “By being better connected with the student body, he can better serve students by addressing issues that are important to them.”

Benton Riordan, a sophomore in chemical engineering, said he is planning to attend the event and hopes to learn more about the Chancellor’s job.

“I hope to gain an understanding of what the Chancellor is doing, to ensure the University continues to provide a quality educational experience to its students in the face of budget cuts,” Riordan said.

Riordan also went on to say that he hopes to attend more events like this in the future.

“I would like to think that if I noticed a problem or area needing improvement, I could easily notify the appropriate person,” Riordan said. “The ‘Chat with the Chancellor’ series shows Dr. Woodson’s commitment to improving our campus and student body.”

Chandler Thompson, the student body president and a senior in economics, said she thinks the Chancellor is implementing these programs in order to connect more with the large student body.

“[Dr. Woodson] expressed to me a hope that office hours around campus would give more students the opportunity to meet him,” Thompson said.

Thompson said that while these programs are a great start, she hopes the Chancellor will continue to reach out to the student body in new ways.

“I’m hoping the next places he will do open office hours to get student feedback will be at Hill of Beans or [while] riding the Wolfline for an hour. There is always room for improvement,” Thompson said. “I’m still trying to convince [Dr. Woodson] that a Twitter account is a good idea.”

The main thing he wants students to know about these events, Woodson said, is that they are intended to be informal and informational.

“I have plenty of opportunities for formal presentations,” Woodson said. “I want this to be more relaxed, and I want the students to feel empowered to come and share their thoughts about the University.”

Woodson said he hopes to hear both positive and negative things from students.

“I want to hear what students are happy with, what they love, and things that they feel could be made better,” Woodson said.

Thompson said she is hopeful that students will gain a lot from the events.

“I hope that opportunities like these will help students understand that their voice does matter,” Thompson said.