By Fiona Rowlands
There has been some small amount of progress with the study room petition. However, the two study rooms, which were converted into offices in January, are still offices.
Mark Titzer, chief financial officer and vice president of finance and administration, said the situation is temporary, but the admin is working on a solution.
He mentioned the challenge of finding space for both the increasing student body and new staff. The new staff members need offices, but students also need private study spaces, especially for zoom calls.
“Students have been disappointed and frustrated with the decision to remove the study rooms,” said C.J. Kalekas, president of the Student Government Association (SGA). “With campus space already limited, this decision seemed to decrease not only an area for students, but a much-needed private area as well.”
Both Kalekas and Titzer saw that the lower level of the library has removed the reference books and replaced it with more student study spaces.
“While this is a step in the right direction, we are still working on ways to establish more private areas on campus for studying,” Kalekas said.
Since there is a lot of natural light in the lower level of the library, Titzer said he thinks it would be best to create private study spaces elsewhere. This solves the problem of student study spaces but not the issue of where commuter students can go for zoom calls in-between classes.
Kalekas also expressed frustration and concern with lack of communication and transparency between the students and admin.
“At SGA, we will continually work on improving the communication and ways to use the campus’s resources to the fullest extent possible,” he said.
