Beginning in September 2012, there will be a new late night study room in the College Terrace.
The new study room location was picked as an alternative to the one in the Sojourner Truth Library (STL). The library is due to close for renovations and its current study room will be unavailable to students for late-night study hours. A group of officials from academic affairs, Sodexo, information technology staff, facilities and student affairs chose the College Terrace because it’s a well-lit area and has convenient parking for students.
The importance of study rooms on campus became clear to college officials as an abundance of requests from students came for additional late-night and weekend study hours. Over the last five months, many students, including members of a student group on campus, have approached the college asking for more study hours. Vice President of Academic Affairs Cheryl Torsney said the administration responded by restoring hours that had been lost due to budget cuts.
“We agreed to accommodate them and they have been using these additional hours, making it well worth the added cost,” Torsney said.
As the STL’s closing date draws near however, a new location is needed for a study room. The college looked at a number of locations before deciding on the Terrace.
“We considered several spots, including the Lecture Center lobby, a piece of the Multipurpose Room in the SU, the lobby of the Humanities building, even the library,” Torsney said. “We decided against all of those options. At a point in our deliberations, the possibility of using the Terrace as [a] late-night study space during the library renovation materialized.”
The college intends to invest in technology, card access and daily cleaning for the Terrace. In addition to the lighting and parking, the Terrace will offer laptops and a printer for student use and large round tables will be available for group studying.
Some students said it’s a little out of the way as compared to other locations. They still want to have more late-night study hours and more study rooms to utilize.
“I use one like five days out of the week,” Terry Gardner, a third-year communication and media major, said.
College officials also feel the new study room location will provide students a good venue for their work.
The college hopes the new study room in the College Terrace will be an attractive alternative for students as the one in the library becomes temporarily unavailable, providing all the space and technology they need. The study room is scheduled to open Sept. 1, 2012. It will be open Sunday through Thursday, 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., excluding any major holidays or intersession.