The ideas and renovations that accompany the Campus Master Plan were the main topic at the Associated Student Government meeting Nov. 13.
“Points of engagement with faculty, with other students – all those things are really the underlying mission of everything basically that occurs,” said Bobbi Pearson, guest speaker and executive director of the Campus Master Plan.
The Master Plan includes ideas for how Emporia State will look upon entering from all different directions, pathways and roads that focus on making campus safe. The Plan also includes ideas for new buildings, new renovations in current buildings and possible destruction of some buildings.
“We want to celebrate coming onto campus,” Pearson said.
The Master Plan has new options for study nooks in most of the buildings. Study nooks will include modern furniture and will serve as places for students to gather.
“We are working on doing some things for Plumb (Hall) over the winter break so you’ll see some furniture coming there,” Pearson said. “The furniture that is there is kind of dated. (It) looks like it belongs in an airport.”
Pearson said one of the goals of the Master Plan is to create a better atmosphere. Study nooks will also be equipped with technology.
“You can really grab a seat, move it over, join a conversation,” Pearson said.
Regarding Residential Life, the Master Plan is hoping to purchase land on Merchant Street to build a mixed-use housing.
“We are really trying to think of everything we do on campus, every resource we spend, stop and think, ‘Is it supporting our vision of the Master Plan?’” Pearson said.
It is a 10-year plan, but some steps have already been taken, including some changes in Cremer Hall and King Hall.
As the last meeting of the 91 session, the ASG senators focused on having all of their projects finished.
“My committee is done for the semester,” said Miranda Bargdill, senior psychology major and senate operations chair. “We finished up all of our edits of the RSO Handbook. There’s just a couple pieces we need to stick in there and it should be good to go, so that’s really exciting.”
Matt Heafele, junior accounting major and ASG treasurer, said that in a Financial Aid meeting with President Michael Shonrock, options were discussed for making Financial Aid easier to understand for incoming freshmen.
Haefele said the meeting with Shonrock also included discussion about having more helpful hints online that could tell students how much debt they would be in if they take out the same loan every semester or an online calendar of scholarships.
“Another thing we talked about was a financial literacy class, where either during Hornet Connection or a have a job for a couple of students where high schoolers can email us or have an open discussion with us and say, ‘Here are some of the things that I’ve done. Here are some of the things that I wish I had done,’” Haefele said.
The first ASG meeting of the spring semester will be on Jan. 15, 2015 in the Senate Chambers.
