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Student Association Report With Input from Student Association Executive Board elect and Student Group Council. Report on the University Union

Further Involvement
Student representation on the Space Management Council is necessary in order to truly represent the needs of the campus community. With over 11,000 undergraduate students, and with that number expected to reach over 15,000 in the next few years, it is important now more than ever that student needs be represented while decisions on the fate of our campus are being made.

Frequent meetings with President DeFleur about the necessities our student groups face regarding space usage will better inform her of our needs while making drastic decisions about the union and other facilities on campus.

Detailed reports of all open space on campus, before and after the Union renovation plans, will help us as students to better evaluate the space situation at a broad level and offer clear, valid and informed solutions to the space issues our campus faces.

Preserving Programming Spaces
Keeping UU133 is essential to the success of our student programming, as well as the many faculty and staff programs that take place in that venue. Forums, luncheons, conferences, speakers, town hall meetings and more use UU133 as the clear and obvious choice for programming, and by removing this space we remove the essential center for the exchange of ideas within the University Union.

The Mandela Room and Old Union Hall are the largest programming spaces available on campus beyond “pay-for” facilities like the Events Center, the East and West Gym, and the Anderson Center. With that in mind, those two spaces alone are not able to accommodate some of the larger programs both student services and student organizations put on such as the Student Group Fair, the Job Fair, and more. By creating access between the two rooms we are able to preserve separate programming spaces while at the same time creating a solid flow between the two areas to create for a true large program feeling, rather than the feeling currently created by the two rooms, which is two separate programs.

Dividing the Mandela Room into three sections is a recipe for disaster. Beyond the fact that dividers will block areas when they are condensed and will look strange while closed, the spaces provided by those dividers will be awkward due to their tall height and smaller floor spaces, creating a “can-like” effect. Additionally, this division would create a reservation nightmare, because as soon as one constituency reserved a third of the room, the entire Mandela Room would no longer be available for use during that time period.

The dilapidated area formerly used as the Pipe Dream office downstairs from the Susquehanna Room is prime programming space due to both its size and location. We would like to see this space converted into multipurpose space to better accommodate the growing number of student groups on campus and programs that University staff put on.

The Kosher Kitchen in its current location clearly does not accommodate the large population on campus that could be utilizing its services. The proposal was made by the administration, and we fully support, the expansion of the Union onto the “mailbox patio” to create a larger facility for the Kosher Kitchen. As a result, the now former Kosher Kitchen should be converted into a multipurpose space for further programming capacity.


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The University’s Living Room
Administrative offices do not belong in the University Union. The Union is the University’s “living room,” and creating spaces that cannot be used by everyone serves as a detriment to students, faculty and staff.

Student services, while we agree are an essential aspect of student life, are not valid entities to replace valuable programming spaces. These offices should remain around campus in areas that more closely relate to their area of service in order to better serve the students that need them.

New student organizations are being chartered every day, and just like University departments, these organizations need office space to create consistent and successful enhancements to student life. Before we begin moving any University offices into the Union, we must first ensure that the student organizations that need office space have been allocated that space. The area allocated to the Career Development Center upstairs from the Susquehanna Room would be perfect space to be divided into student organization offices in a way where they can communicate and interact to form a more cohesive campus community.

The South Lounge currently serves Binghamton University as the main transportation hub on campus. With the new Downtown Center opening this fall, a waiting area for buses becomes even more essential. Additionally, the South Lounge currently serves as the only true “lounge” area on campus. While we first need to point out that more of this genre of space is desperately needed, we must also implore the University to both maintain and improve the South Lounge in that respect.

We also propose that the multipurpose/classroom space in the basement of the New Union (WB08) be combined with WHRW’s office in order to give them sufficient office and storage space. In order to ensure that there is still sufficient multipurpose space we are willing to cede the current Cold Copy space (WB09) to such a use. We would then like to see the space offered to WHRW as storage (near the post office) converted to general student group storage space separated by lockers or cages, as we are in desperate need of such a space. In addition, the storage WHRW currently has would nolonger be needed, which would free up additional student group storage space. With over 140 student groups this storage space will be as valuable as an office to student groups with consistent access to multipurpose space and is therefore critically important to the Student Association’s continued success.

A System of Support
The Student Association office is not only an administrative hub for all student activities on campus, but also acts as a system of support for programming put on by student organizations. The space being proposed in the former Campus Life office is simply not large enough to accommodate our operation. By placing the Student Association on the second floor of the old Pipe Dream wing, we become strategically located in a central location between the UU East, UU West and Couper Administration – three buildings where close to all of our business takes place. Additionally, by creating the new programming space on the floor below as mentioned previously, we consolidate the Student Association operations by creating a situation where the executive board functions on one floor of the same wing that the Student Assembly can meet in for their weekly sessions. This also puts the SA very close to the new student group office spaces we have proposed, as well as in a closer vicinity to Campus Life. The next best possible choice for the Student Association Office would be the first floor of the old Pipe Dream Wing. Having the Student Association office where Telecom is currently located would not fit our needs, and would not be beneficial to students. It is important to have the Student Association office in a central location, and where it would be susceptible to high traffic, and the space offered by Telecom does not serve that need, and we believe would hurt the Student Association.

Campus Life provides many essential services to the student community, and their current location creates a prime environment for them to do so, which is why we advocate for them to stay in their current location. Their main missions – working with the Student Association, putting on Late Nite programming, organization orientation, among other things – all focus around the UU East, and removing them from that building would be detrimental to their success.

Oh, the Places You’ll Go
Throughout this entire process, we have been told the asbestos removal will create situations in which current offices will need to move locations in order for the abatement to take place. We as students need to know what these contingency plans are so that we can adequately prepare for the interim time periods of interruption to our programs. These details include to where, and for how long, each entity being displaced will be moved.