Higher numbers of incoming freshmen have left residence halls with less available space. Members of the Student Association want to fix that.

Their plan includes revitalizing the Schine Student Center to make up for space lost in residence halls – redecorating the Schine Underground, adding technology and providing more resources for students.

At Monday night’s Student Association meeting, assembly members and liaisons to the board presented a plan to make up for residence hall lounges that have been converted into suites to house extra students. DellPlain Hall, for example, had six of its nine lounges converted into students’ rooms, said Larry Seivert, SA assembly member and junior supply chain management major.

Seivert, along with Helen Kahn, SA assembly member and junior policy studies major, identified the replacement of lounges as a problem. Seivert has been a resident assistant and heard firsthand what was happening.

The proposal aims to ‘replenish’ the lost space in residence halls by ‘revitalizing’ Schine, Seivert said.

‘It’s so important … to have that great sense of community, a place to study, of course,’ Kahn said during the meeting. ‘But you need a place to congregate and be with friends.’

Seivert said the proposal included improving the Schine Underground with new lighting and more comfortable seating. The most important point in the proposal, he said, is increasing ‘whatever resources are necessary to retain students.’ He specifically mentioned an increased variety of food available to students at more hours and more accessibility to printers in Schine.

Seivert said that the proposal was all about ‘building community’ and that he anticipates it will be completed this semester.

SA has already met with the Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction, he said. He considers the meeting good progress in accomplishing the goals of the proposal. For now, the proposal only focuses on Schine, though Kahn hopes to also work on improving the E.S. Bird Library in the future.

‘Previous sessions of the Student Association have tried to get some things done in Schine and clearly have not been successful,’ Kahn said. ‘But we took it to the top, so hopefully we’ll get some things done.’

rsbalton@syr.edu

Published on September 15, 2008 at 12:00 pm