A student centre for the St. George campus is an old chestnut, but this week the bid to build it is set to receive a boost.
A report, to be presented at the University Affairs Board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 26, will recommend the construction of another “large node of student activity space” and the establishment of a committee to begin planning it. It also outlines ways to fund it, which will likely involve a student levy.
The report was put together by the Committee to Review Student Space on the St. George Campus, which has examined the issue since July 2005.
“There is a sense that the space is not enough to accommodate huge student needs,” said university president David Naylor. “Part of the issue is getting not only more study space, more informal space, but a lot more eating space.
“I think it would be terrific if we could actually provide a very substantial student commons on site 12,” Naylor said, referring to the empty parking lot on Devonshire Ave., beside Woodsworth College and across from the Varsity arena.
Student leaders also welcomed the committee’s report.
“We are encouraged that the university is finally recognizing what SAC has been long fighting for: a student-run facility that can cater to students’ needs,” said Students Administrative Council (SAC) chairperson Jen Hassum.
In the spring of 2005, a SAC referendum asked students whether they support the idea of a centre that would be “student owned and operated, open 365 days a year,” whose construction would be partly funded through a levy.
This might range around $45 per student a year, the referendum question hinted. (Student centre levies at UTSC and UTM, meanwhile, are $63 and $52 a year respectively.) Of the roughly seven per cent of St. George students who voted on the question, 57 per cent were in favour and 36 per cent opposed it.
Yet despite the referendum’s success, the findings of a student survey conducted by the student space committee this spring reveals ambivalence among students. Fifty-eight per cent of respondents said that sources besides a student levy should be used to fund it, and 40 per cent said they would only be willing to pay between one and $20.
And the report recommends that the university pitch in 50 cents for every student levy dollar raised.
Aside from the levy issue, a senior SAC official spoke to The Varsity earlier this year of perceived opposition to a student centre from some of the existing student hubs, such as Hart House.
“[They are] actively against it, I would say,” the official said.
Speaking to these comments, Hart House Warden Margaret Hancock said, “We have always agreed that there is a need for more student activity space,” adding that “Hart House has a finite capacity and cannot be all things to all people.”
To avoid such potential conflicts between existing nodes, the space committee report recommends that a network of individuals be created who will manage the use of student space on St. George campus.
“It is my hope that this network will have an intentional focus on how the various major nodes of student activity space complement each other in the programs and services offered,” said assistant director of student affairs Jim Delaney.
Asked to speculate on the odds of going to the students with a plan on the St. George student centre this school year, the SAC official put them at one-in-three to one-in-four.
“It’s as good as they’ve been in over a decade,” the official said.
News editor Mike Ghenu contributed to this report
