The Student Government Association (SGA) meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 29 began with breaking news about the future of on-campus housing news from Jean Wilwohl, Residential and Commuter Life associate director of occupancy management.
Wilwohl first informed the Senate of the mid-year intentions process. She said students who graduate in December, want to switch rooms for the spring semester, plan to study abroad in the spring or are not returning to the university must inform RCL by Nov. 1 by completing the mid-year intention form at www.longwood.edu/rcl.
Stubbs Hall, according to Wilwohl, is set to reopen after renovations are complete in fall 2014. Residents of sorority halls, as well as other female students, will continue to live in the building.
Wilwohl told the Senate, as mentioned in The Rotunda last week, that there is a construction project in the works for two wings to ARC Residence Hall. The project, which is slated to begin in two to three years, is meant to house more students on main campus after the Cunningham Residence Halls are closed in the spring. Currently, according to Wilwohl, about 50 percent of students live on-campus and the other 50 percent live off-campus.
There are even more major changes in the works, said Wilwohl, as the university must accommodate the influx of freshmen. For the 2014-2015 academic year, RCL will transition some of the larger rooms in ARC to triple occupancy. Wilwohl said this will allow more students to live on campus.
In addition to these changes, Wilwohl said the C bedrooms in the currently three-bedroom Longwood Village apartment spaces will be changed to double rooms, transforming the apartment community to a four-bedroom complex and providing 94 additional spaces for students. RCL will offer these double rooms at a price similar to those for on-campus double rooms. She said this decision was part of making “hard decisions that are going to be in the best interest of the overall student population.”
Kelly Martin, sustainability coordinator for the Office of Sustainability, presented an idea that SGA President Haley Vest said could be a possible new project for the Senate. Martin said while there is a Ride Board in the university’s Post Office and on Facebook, there may be more effective ways for students to get rides (e.g., Ridepost and Zimride).
These programs would allow students to get or give rides through a secure, Longwood student-only portal. She also suggested finding a way to start a program of this type through an already existing application like Canvas, the university’s Learning Management System. Martin said this type of program could be beneficial if it applies to students’ needs.
This proposal received mixed reactions from the Senate, as some senators did not see this program as a priority for students. Other senators thought students would use the program if they could access it through Canvas. Vest suggested that the senators reach out to fellow students and see if there is a need to fund a ride board portal.
During open forum, Senator Joe Gills wondered if class sizes would increase with the growing of the student population. Dr. Tim Pierson, adviser to the SGA and vice president for Student Affairs, said the President’s Office will send a statement regarding this issue. Pierson said there is a commitment to keeping classes at the same size. There will most likely be additions of faculty or departments. He said there are complications because the state does not provide schools with as much funding as it did in the past. He suggested bringing President W. Taylor Reveley IV to the SGA to talk about the “bigger picture” of Longwood.
Haley Socha, Student Services Committee chair, said the Commuter Lounge will now be open at 7:30 p.m. There will also be trash cans in the women’s restrooms across campus in the near future, which was a long-term issue.
On behalf of the Student Finance Committee (SFC), Treasurer Alex Julian moved to allocate $13,650 to Lancer Productions for National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) attendance and the Late Night and Issues & Awareness events. The SGA approved the motion. The Senate also approved an allocation of $251.71 to the Honors Student Association for a campus-wide murder mystery event.
Students, faculty and staff interested in attending the next SGA meeting can do so next Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 3:45 p.m. in the BC rooms of Lankford Student Union
