Ohio University Student Senate has countered two proposed options for reducing hours at Baker University Center with a proposal of its own and is using surveys to gather student response this week.
In a presentation to Senate last week, Kent Smith, vice president for Student Affairs and Sujit Chemburkar, executive director of Event Services for Baker Center, discussed the budget cuts to Baker Center. Fifteen operation hours will need to be cut each week for Baker Center to balance its budget.
Baker Center is facing a $114,585 cut - 2.8 percent of its $4.08 million budget - amid a $13.75 million reduction in the university budget next year.
Smith and Chemburkar proposed two options. The first was to close Baker Center altogether on Sundays - which Chemburkar estimated would affect 1,200 events during the academic year, 788 of which are student organized. The second was to close the center at 9:30 each evening, rather than the current closing time of midnight Sunday-Thursday and 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday evenings. This option would affect about 1,186 events, 799 of which are student-organized, Chemburkar said.
The largest difference between these two proposals was the effect on student traffic in Baker Center. Chemburkar estimated that daily traffic of 3,000 would be affected if the center closed on Sunday, while a total of 13,000 would be affected if the center were to close earlier each evening.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both options, Chemburkar said.
I would say greater efficiencies would be gained in having a whole day closed rather than trimming some hours back (every day)
because of utility changes and resources said Ryan Lombardi, dean of students. I know (Baker Center) is pretty quiet on Sundays.
Senate formed an ad hoc committee that responded with a third option - closing earlier on weekdays and later on Fridays and Saturdays and opening for limited hours on Sundays, Senate Vice President Emily Bacha said.
This option would optimize student use of the building, Bacha said, by allowing Baker Center to remain an alternative evening option for students on the weekend while staying open for weekend student organization meetings.
The committee will also explore other options for student meetings, including using Alden Library and academic buildings across
campus for meetings and functions.
We're trying to do what's best for students and we're going to listen to students but we're also making sure everything else is in line so if this does go through
students know what their options are
Bacha said.
Senate's survey will close at the end of this week, and the senate body will draft a resolution next week with its proposal for Baker's revised hours. In its first 24 hours, the survey received more than 550 responses, said Senate president Robert Leary.
We really are listening and we don't want to make this decision on our own. We want student input
Bacha said.
Chemburkar and Lombardi said the final decision would take student input into account.
I realize why this building exists
so working with the students is important
Chemburkar said. We wouldn't have come forward to ask for feedback if it weren't important to us. I don't like that we're here
but we have to make some tough decisions.
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