University President Michael Adams is taking the stage.

At the “Open Mic with Mike” forum today, Adams will answer whatever questions students throw his way in a face-to-face session open to the entire student body.

“It’s important for students to go because it’s kind of a rare opportunity to ask [Adams] anything and everything they want,” said Katie Barlow, president of the Student Government Association.

The event gives students the opportunity to make Adams aware of the strong student perspective on many University-related issues, Barlow said in a phone interview last week.

She said SGA senators will likely bring questions about the sustainability fee, the student activity fee and budget cuts on campus.

Will Rooks, president of the Graduate Student Association, said he thought the University’s budget crisis would also draw graduate students to the event.

“There are a lot of issues on the table right now,” Rooks said in a phone interview last week. “Some big, challenging questions are, I think, on the forefront of everyone’s minds.”

Rooks advertised the event with the GSA listserv to encourage graduate student attendance.

“It’s not that often that you get to engage with the leader of such an enormous institution,” he said.

The rarity of such interactions is one of the reasons Adams is hosting the forum, said Matthew Winston, assistant to the president.

“This is such a big place and a complex place,” Winston said. “There are really very few times when students get the opportunity to engage the president one-on-one on anything they want to talk about.”

But Adams wants to know the students’ perspectives.

“[Adams] wants to hear from the students,” Winston said in a phone interview last week. “He wants to hear how students feel.”

Winston said Adams is anticipating questions about the big issues on campus – furloughs, the University budget, tuition, tailgating garbage and H1N1 – but students can bring forward any issue they want the president to address.

“Some things come up out of the blue,” Winston said. “[Adams] always says he always learns at least one thing that he just didn’t really know was an issue.”