On Oct. 23, a resolution proposing that a commuter lounge be built in the Don Taft University Center was passed by the Undergraduate Student Government Association.
The resolution aims to create a place that gives “… commuter students a home away from home, as well as a place to socialize, eat, study and relax in between classes.” It is sponsored by Dominic Campenni, Commuter Student
Organization president and SGA commuter senator, and co-sponsored by SGA Residential Senator Josh Grant and SGA International Senator Javier Lopez.
Campenni said a commuter lounge would be an “identity piece” for commuter students, who make up a majority of NSU’s students.
“We have the Flight Deck, but it doesn’t meet the needs of all commuter students. A lounge would be used by all commuters, especially if it’s in a prime location,” said Campenni.
According to a survey conducted by SGA, 83 percent of students strongly agreed with SGA’s efforts to create a lounge, and 85 percent of students said they would spend at least one to two hours a week in the lounge. Several resolutions have proposed a commuter student lounge in the past three years, but none were accompanied by the support of a student-signed petition.
Last year, a resolution for a game room and lounge was passed by SGA, but was not approved by administration. SGA Vice President of Legislation Ben Herrin says this year’s approach has clearly been more effective.
“I have been on SGA since 2011 as a commuter senator, and one of the action items was the commuter lounge,” said Herrin. “We brought it up in our constituency meetings and set a resolution before the senate, but nothing really came from it. This year, we took a different approach initially.”
This semester, 845 students signed a petition in support of building a Commuter Lounge in the UC, which Herrin and Campenni believe helped the resolution gain approval. The resolution did not receive any opposition during the SGA senate’s discussion.
The next step for CSO and SGA is to present the resolution to PAN-SGA, and if it receives approval, CSO will meet with Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of the College of Undergraduate Studies Brad Williams and Assistant Dean of Student Development William Faulkner in mid-November. They will discuss the lounge’s budget, created by CSO’s executive board, and share potential designs and project schedules.
Herrin also plans to meet with Debbie Hunley, NSU project manager of Design and Construction, to prepare an invoice to accurately estimate the cost of building the longue, which will include the price of adding lockers, televisions and seating. After finalizing the lounge’s details, CSO and SGA will present the idea to President George Hanbury.
NSU administration has made previous suggestions for the lounge to be built in the Student Affairs Building, formerly the Athletics and Student Affairs Building; however, Herrin said that the UC is “prime real estate,” particularly where the SharkCard office is currently located, because many undergraduate students use the UC Pit and Spine as a study and hangout location.
“You figure that the card office is primarily used at the beginning of every semester, but after that, there is hardly any student or staff interaction with the office,” said Herrin.
CSO will suggest to administration that the SharkCard office be moved to the Horvitz Administrative Building, which houses the One Stop Shop, where students can obtain parking permits, address financial aid issues, make payments and submit student employment applications.
Lilian Monique Valle, vice president of CSO, said, “The proposed commuter lounge will have extended hours to meet the needs of the diverse commuter students who would want to utilize this space, and it has the potential to be utilized more than the card office currently is.”
CSO is compiling a list of universities who have commuter lounges. Herrin said, “Since NSU wants to be a cutting-edge private school, it will be a good nudge to be able to say, ‘Well Barry University has a lounge.’”
In addition, CSO and SGA will keep track of the number of students using the SharkCard office, and Campenni and Valle expect that a low number will help convince Williams and Faulkner that it can afford to be replaced by a lounge.
Students interested in helping with CSO and SGA’s efforts to build the commuter lounge can contact Campenni at dc1314@nova.edu or SGA President Daniel Brookins at db1369@nova.edu.
