After students voted down last semester's expensive Union Master Plan for the expansion of the university's unions, a new round of union planning meetings starts today on renovations to both Union South and Memorial Union.
\There was a misconception last spring that there was a plan in place and students couldn't have input,"" Union Communications Director Marc Kennedy said. ""There wasn't sufficient time to sit down with the average student as well as the student organizations who really use the space to get their input.""
Lack of student input and limited time to inform the student body pushed the Union to try again this fall.
""There was not enough visible student input last time,"" Student Council member Andy Gordon said. ""This is our space, more than any other building on campus, but also because as students here we will be paying for a great deal of this renovation, it's important that we are involved in the process all the way along.""
A series of focus groups, surveys and open forums will be held over the next four to six months to include input from students, student organizations and staff.
""Students can also just go to the website and put their feedback in throughout the entire process. We're making sure we're spending a lot of time reaching out to the student groups,"" Kennedy said.
A facelift for less-prominent Union South heads the list of improvements, along with adding meeting space to both unions which denied 1,300 requests for meeting rooms last year.
""Union South doesn't inspire the desire to hang out the way Memorial does. It falls short of inspiring a sense of community on that side of campus. We want South to be seen as more than just providing basic services but as a place with its own personality that students want to hang out,"" Union Director Mark Guthier said.
Adding elevators, restrooms, wheelchair ramps and improving electrical and fire safety compose the base of the improvements. The meetings will be geared toward input on these upgrades as well as adding a 2nd level Terrace, public piers and a lakeside ballroom.
""These items from the Master Plan are just a starting point, and could be eliminated or expanded. We want to upgrade technological equipment while at the same time we don't want to ruin the special character of Memorial like the Rathskeller, the Great Hall or the Theater,"" Guthier said.
