Nap space, a three-lane bowling alley and more easily accessible coffee were among the suggestions tossed around to fill the space that will be vacated once the Syracuse University bookstore relocates.

“We’re here to hear crazy ideas,” said Eric Beattie, director of campus planning, design and construction at SU, while addressing the general assembly at Monday night’s Student Association meeting in Maxwell Auditorium.

This comment prompted representatives and students in the gallery to launch into suggestions on how they’d like to see the space utilized.

The bookstore’s relocation to University Avenue will free up 30,000 square feet, paving the way for reconstruction in the Schine Student Center. In a forum headed by Stephen Cassell, principal at the Architecture Research Office, some of the recurring suggestions for the renovated student center included more open, communal spaces for student interaction, more natural light, and improved office and storage space for registered student organizations.

A schedule for the Schine reconstruction hasn’t been set and is a few years in the making. The input gathered from Monday’s meeting will be used for planning in its later stages of development. A survey regarding renovation efforts was emailed to students Monday afternoon.

Cassell introduced a proposed plan for a renovated Schine, which included relocating the dining area to a lower level and expanding the current dining area for student use.

Chancellor and provost 

As more students enter the university with higher financial needs, Chancellor Nancy Cantor expressed a commitment to meeting those needs in a presentation to the general assembly.

Cantor said the university is focusing efforts on raising donations to meet financial aid needs. As an institution, SU issued about $200 million in gift aid, or grants and scholarships, for the 2012-13 academic year. For the academic year ending in 2009, SU issued about $140 million in gift aid.

Cantor also discussed demographics, explaining that the university has focused more recruiting efforts in large metropolitan areas with “tremendous” population growth. These metropolitan areas are also home to the greatest number of first-generation students, Cantor said.

Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina picked up where Cantor left off, introducing areas where the university could improve, such as increasing online class offerings. University officials have also discussed experimenting with massive open online courses, which would allow hundreds of students to take an online course, Spina said.

Cantor and Spina exited the meeting after the presentations without stopping to field questions from the general assembly.

The Student Engagement Committee

Members of the Student Engagement Committee presented reports on initiatives they’ve worked on throughout the semester:

• A new smartphone and web application, Student Engage, was presented to the assembly by Sawyer Cresap, a representative in the College of Arts and Sciences. The app, which would allow SA to receive student feedback through polls and allow SA to send notifications to students, will likely be available in three weeks, Cresap said.

• Representative Minji Hwang described her efforts in coordinating the setup of a comment box in Schine. The box is scheduled to be installed on Wednesday.

• Taylor Dellarocco, a representative for the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, is in the process of contacting various campus dance groups to create a Dance Council.

• The Diversity Council, headed by Arts and Sciences representative Abi Zambrana, conducted its first informational meeting, and is still seeking different campus cultural organizations to join the council.

• After representatives exited Maxwell Auditorium early, SA was unable to meet quorum, prohibiting the organization from conducting business on items that required a vote.

Published on April 23, 2013 at 1:59 am

Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong