After much discussion between students and faculty, The Warehouse will now be open to design majors from 6 a.m. to 3 a.m.

Students received an email Monday saying The Warehouse hours would be expanded. Erin Devine, a senior communications design major, said students from different design majors met with faculty members in February to discuss the change in hours. She said students presented their side of the argument and implored the faculty to reconsider the restricted hours.

‘They’ve recognized that the students are trying to take actions to fix everything in The Warehouse,’ Devine said.

The change comes a little more than one month after faculty from the design department of the College of Visual and Performing Arts restricted The Warehouse hours due to inappropriate and illegal student behavior. Previously, The Warehouse was open to students 24 hours a day, but hours were limited from 6 a.m. to midnight, a move many students found unreasonable because they felt it would limit their academic performance.

Upon having The Warehouse hours restricted, students conceived an idea to create a council, or a group of students elected by their peers to represent each major in the design department, to act as a voice for the student body, Devine said.

‘It’s important that everyone is involved because without having the students involved with these rules, it’s impossible to speak to us about it,’ she said. ‘Having some sort of peer leadership is really key to that.’

Devine said the student council was part of the agreement to expand The Warehouse hours. She said students were told if they could elect one representative from every design major, then the faculty would add to The Warehouse hours.

Sam Salzano, a senior communications design major, said although The Warehouse is not opened 24/7, the hours are still important for students to complete their work.

Members of the student council will be responsible for meeting with faculty members when issues within the department arise, Salzano said. The students will also be responsible for monitoring their peers in The Warehouse and making sure other students are following the rules.

‘There needs to be a kind of hierarchy of how things go, and it wasn’t really working out just having the faculty and the student body,’ Salzano said.’

Students are still working on expanding the student council, Devine said. They hope to have two representatives for every class year and every major to act as a liaison between students and faculty.

Said Devine: ‘It’s about two-way communication because right now there’s no communication.’

snbouvia@syr.edu 

Published on March 6, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Stephanie: snbouvia@syr.edu | @snbouvia