Carl’s not dying, the student center staff joked during spring break’s move-out period. He’s just getting a facelift.
The Carl Hansen Student Center’s second floor hallway is scheduled for completion in August, according to Director of the Student Center and Campus Life Daniel Brown.
He also said that contractors haven’t given a date of completion for the first floor of Alumni Hall, which “won’t be a multipurpose space like before, but open area where programming can occur but with different types of seating.”
The Alumni Hall side of the second floor will house office suites for Greek life and student media, an additional four meeting rooms, the graphic arts room, organization mailboxes, and a suite with 60 storage bins for student organizations without offices.
“Basically what we’re going to be able to provide which we’ve never been able to provide is for 60 student organizations the exact same amount of space,” Brown said. “And I say space because we will never have a student group that has an office again, with the exception of [the Chronicle, Q30, SGA, SPB, Greek life].”
Brown said the reason why certain groups get an office over others is because “the functionality of those groups requires that.”
In the meanwhile, student media groups (outside of WQAQ, who remain in their studio) found refuge in the former Chartwell’s trailer near the South Lot shuttle stop. One half of that trailer is dedicated to student media, while the other houses a student center worker, a graphic arts space and a satellite office for the student center’s profesional staff.
Q30 General Manager Kristen Swartz was initially concerned with how it would function after the move, but the TV station was up and running as of Monday.
“The biggest thing that I’m worried about now is that we’ll have a disconnect with not only the Quinnipiac community, but our own members,” Swartz said. “People need to come take out equipment and they don’t even know where this trailer is.”
Community Action Project Co-Director Melissa Trinks expressed concerns for after the construction is done, since CAP will no longer have their own office.
“While I understand the direction the student center is moving towards, the new layout is nowhere near ideal for an organization as large as CAP,” she said.
QU After Dark Vice President Brian Jacobson said the move means they have to plan more, and “the effect has been minimal and hasn’t hindered the quality of our programs.”
“We will have a shared common space with SPB and a small office to work out of,” he said. “I’m really excited about it, and even though I won’t be here I think it will do wonders for collaborating between SPB and QU After Dark.”
Photo credit: Ilya Spektor
