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Printer-Friendly ModeGilbertson: Campus at right size, no further expansion
PRESIDENT'S FORUM
September 21, 2009 —
University expansion and overcrowded computer labs.
These issues and more came up at the President’s Forum on Thursday. University Eric R. Gilbertson said that SVSU is done building more housing for now and after the Health and Sciences building is completed, the school will focus more on renovation and using the space it already has.
The size of the student body will stay constant for the next three to five years, President Gilbertson said. This, in part, is due to Michigan’s dropping number of high school graduates.
The president said there will be less pressure to grow and it will be easier to limit the freshmen class next year.
The Health and Science building will help when it opens in August 2010. It will take many classes out of the Ryder Center and provide a halfsize gym for occupational therapy classes.
Ryan Kanine, president of Student Association, brought the issue of overcrowded computer labs to the floor.
According to Ken Schindler, executive director of Information Technology Services, most students eventually discover that there are many computer labs on campus. The Science East lab near Zahnow Library usually is the busiest, he added, but open labs can also be found on the second floor of Curtiss and on the mezzanine in the Education Building.
The primary reason for the traffic in these computer labs is the number of students on social networking or game sites during peak hours, Schindler said. If it were necessary, SVSU could mandate a ban on such sites during busy hours, he added, but promoting the other computer labs might dissolve the issue entirely.
The discussion extended to include the upcoming Einstein Bros. Bagels, which is a bagel, soup and sandwich shop that will be added in the Education Center. It will be designed to have an enclosed café feel to it, with booths, a fireplace and pictures on its walls.
Next week there will be a survey of parking spots to determine when and where they are most crowded so the administration can begin assessing the availability of parking space on campus.
Despite rumors of cut endowments, Gilbertson assured endowment- scholarship students that their funding will not decrease. The administration is being cautious in its use of specific endowment funds from private parties.