It’s a ‘go’ for
student center
H-Building will be its new home;
$1.2 million being spent
Development of a student life center has been discussed and debated for four years, but North Lake College officials now say the talk is over.
“The plan is full speed ahead,” said John Watson, North Lake’s director of facilities management. He said the $1.2 million center should become part of the campus by the fall semester of 2009.
Its home will be H-Building.
To make room for the center, faculty and staff were transferred out of the H-200s on Jan. 14.
“[It’s] a good, appropriate place for student services and [for] students to gather and hang out,” said Mary Ciminelli, vice president for student services and enrollment management. “It’s mostly going to be a sitting and gathering place.”
Michael Isom, North Lake student and secretary of the school’s Student Government Association, or SGA, hopes for a Foosball station, pool tables, possibly a few board and video games.
Regardless of the types of recreational equipment installed, Isom said, the center “would give [students] a place to socialize and the opportunity to step away from their schoolwork and relax their minds.”
Ciminelli is listening to students.
At a minimum, she said, the center will have a television and possibly a few video games. She added, though, that some students also have requested a few quiet rooms for study or relaxation.
Watson said the center will include a 100-seat multi-purpose space and a moveable wall that will permit a variety of seating configurations for different meetings or events.
The student life center will have some neighbors in H-Building.
The complex also is scheduled to become the new home of Student Programs and Resources, or SPAR. Other offices making the move include Career Services, as well as Upward Bound, a free college preparatory program for high school students.
Ciminelli said the center could be used for SGA meetings, symposiums and other events.
Virgina Jones, SPAR director, is set to meet with students to discuss what entertainment would be appropriate for the center.
Many of those issues will be decided by August. That’s when Watson hopes to begin the renovation of H-Building.