The Slippery Rock Student Government Association held a formal meeting Monday night and heard from Academic Affairs about the upcoming renovations that will begin this summer for different buildings on campus.
Mary Ann King, director of academic resources, discussed the three major renovation projects that will affect campus during 2017-2018 school year. The projects include the Strain Behavioral Science Building (BSB), East and West Gym, Miller Auditorium and Bailey Library. BSB will close on May 15 so the building can be emptied of all desks, equipment and other necessary classroom materials, King said. King mentioned how the safety management major will be moved to different buildings during this time.
“Once the building is emptied, we will look to begin renovations sometime in July, and this will take some time to complete,” King said. “The bulk of safety management classes will have to be moved to Patterson Hall during this time. The remaining classes and offices will be moved to McKay and Caruth Rizzo. The IT rooms in BSB will be relocated to ECB and Vincent.”
King mentioned how this will be difficult for some students to get the hang of, but once the renovations are complete, it will be worth the wait. The renovations will make BSB one of a kind and have a much different feel and look to it, King said.
“We will be closing 13 classrooms, but once everything is finished, BSB will be a state-of-the-art building,” King said. “It will include brand new labs and classrooms, a student art gallery and ROTC study spaces for these students.”
The second renovation project is East and West Gym, which will be closed down like BSB for everything to be emptied from the building. King said this is necessary to update these buildings and make important changes for the dance majors who use them. King said the goal is to reopen West Gym in January 2018, and East Gym in May 2018.
“Dance majors will be moved to some rooms in Spotts, as well as Patterson Hall until completion,” King said. “The dance studio will also be unavailable, as well as the classrooms located in these buildings. East Gym, upon completion, will include a black box theater for acting, and the pool will be transformed into a new dance studio. Miller Auditorium will finally be renovated into a 753-seat auditorium as well.”
The final project will be Bailey Library construction, which will begin on May 22, once the contract goes into effect, King said.
“The library will be receiving new computer labs, study spaces, updates on the career education center and a brand new entry way,” King said.
Jennifer Bartek, library building manager, discussed the impacts the renovations of the library will have on the facility this summer. Bartek mentioned that this will affect not only library staff, but any students or members of the Slippery Rock community.
“There are going to be some serious temperature changes, so it’s going to be a brutal summer,” Bartek said. “There will be no air in the building until the fall semester. There will also be no restrooms, no elevator use, no access to the second or third floors and limited first floor access to patron user access only. The front door will also not be of use, so the back door must be used during these times as the main entrance.”
Bartek said some of the restrooms will be available for use in the fall, as well as access to the elevators. The first floor will be partially finished, so the study space will be decreased for students, King said.
After the guest speakers, SGA approved over $20,000 in new initiative requests, as well as two new clubs to campus in new business.
Environmental Education and Interpretation Club was approved $5,500 for a guest speaker event. Chad Pregracke will be speaking on environmental sustainability and water conservation to any students who wish to attend.
The Tri Beta Biology Honorary received $4,644 for a trip to Chicago.
SOUL was approved $798 for transportation to Washington, DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Triathlon Club received $3,368 for the club president to attend the USA Collegiate Nationals in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The SRU English Equestrian Team was approved $2,160 for transportation and entry fees to several competitions.
The University Program Board received $1,450 for supplies for the fourth annual Color the Rock 5K Color Run. This money will be used for an arch to let the general public know where the race begins and ends.
Men’s Lacrosse Club received $2,600 for referee, signage and league fees.
One initiative was tabled until a representative from the Percussion Club was in attendance.
Cornhole Club and Slippery Rock Archery Club were approved as new clubs on campus.
SGA also approved the the motion of SRSGA President Logan Steigerwalt writing a letter of support to the Council of Trustees for the proposed meal plan increase and health center fee increase.
Finally, SGA approved the minutes from Feb. 27.
Monica Traggiai, student council of trustees representative, discussed the upcoming quarterly business meeting. Some topics of discussion will be the addition of a doctoral PT program and the proposed fee increases for meal plans and health services, Traggiai said.
Brian Welsh, VP of financial affairs, reminded attendees that budgeting day is Saturday in VSC 102.
Cale Walker, Building A senator, spoke about Safety Week which will be from March 27-31. Some of the events include dorm safety, relationship safety and active shooter awareness.
The next formal meeting for SGA will be held on April 3 in the SSC Theater at 8:45 p.m.
