Student organizations hoping to receive on-campus office space
may now find more resources available to them, but also a stricter
process for getting these resources.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council voted Feb. 14 to
approve the new office-space allocation guidelines, which outline
the processes and regulations by which student groups can get
office space on campus.
USAC President Jenny Wood, a member of the Office Space
Allocation Committee, said the guidelines were changed in response
to the opening of new lockers, mailboxes and communal office space
in Kerckhoff Hall this month.
Wood said new mailboxes had been installed in the communal
office space, and lockers had been installed in the Student
Activities Center.
The new office space guidelines also include changes to the
process by which space allocations are determined.
How long a group has existed and how involved it is on campus
determine whether it gets a locker, a mailbox, or actual office
space, Community Service Commissioner Farheen Malik said.
To receive office space, groups must have been registered on
campus for five years, have used USAC space to hold events for four
years, and have received funding from USAC for four years.
Luis Hernandez of the Latin American Students Association said
he had mixed feelings about the value of lockers and mailboxes
compared to offices.
“An office is critical for an organization to have,”
he said.
“I’m not sure if lockers and mailboxes are going to
be very helpful. On the other hand, it’s a start for new
organizations. Hopefully they can get up and get an office
eventually,” he added.
The new document also outlines regulations for the communal
office space.
According to Facilities Commissioner Joe Vardner, who also sits
on the committee, the guidelines state that any student group can
use the communal space, but that if all the cubicles are full, each
group will be limited to one cubicle.
USAC’s vote was delayed several weeks because OSAC could
not agree on how often groups’ space allocations should be
re-evaluated.
The committee plans to continue discussing the issue, but
currently groups will be re-evaluated every year. A poor evaluation
for the group will result in a two-year probationary period.
While some committee members thought groups’ allocations
should be reviewed on a yearly basis to prevent inactive groups
from wasting space, others thought overly frequent reallocations of
space could create instability.
“We wanted the ones who needed it the most to be using
it,” Malik said.
“The issue we were going back and forth about was whether
they should have it on a yearly basis, and should they be evaluated
again,” he said.
Space allocations will not be immediately revoked if a group
receives a negative evaluation.
Instead, the group will be placed on probation for two years; if
the group receives negative evaluations both years of its
probationary period, its space can be revoked, Wood said.
Hernandez said he thought the new rule could be beneficial.
“It keeps (student organizations) on check,” he
said. “They know they have to get their name out. It might
have the effect of making them get involved more on
campus.”
Wood said the committee will continue discussing this particular
change, and may amend the document further.
According to Vardner, the new guidelines also establish a formal
application process for groups hoping to receive office space.
Before, the guidelines stated only that groups were required to
submit an application for office space, but did not go into any
further detail.
Vardner said a more formal application process will make space
allocation more fair.
“If we’re serious about expanding the space that
USAC gives groups, we have to have a fair way to do it,” he
said.