The student organizations space on Broadway will be open next Monday after months of construction, Assistant Dean of Yale College Philip Greene said.
The space, which contains two conference rooms, smaller rooms, 20 computer stations and substantial storage room, will be available for all registered undergraduate organizations to use, Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg said.
The dean’s office is holding open houses Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons for students to survey the new space and see how they will be able to use it.
In addition to the common areas, there are offices for the Yale College Council, the Yale Herald and the New Journal. The latter two organizations are losing their current office spaces on Park Street to St. Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center.
Trachtenberg said the deans took members of the YCC, Herald and New Journal on tours in the last couple of weeks.
“It’s gorgeous,” YCC President Vidhya Prabhakaran ’03 said. “The YCC office will do very nicely for us; the breakout rooms are going to be extremely useful. — I anticipate that a ton of people will be using it, which is what it’s there for.”
To start off, the space will be open Sunday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to midnight, Greene said. Trachtenberg said all guidelines are subject to change, as Yale has never maintained such a facility before.
“I have no doubt we’ll extend the hours,” Greene said.
The space, decorated in black and yellow, has a view of Davenport College from one side and Morse College and the Hall of Graduate Studies from the other. The entrance is from the back of the building, by the Off-Broadway theater.
Though Yale is still awaiting the arrival of some furniture and storage cabinets, Greene said the Herald will move in on Friday. The bulk of the furniture, all of the computers and three state of the art copier-printers have already arrived, however.
The conference rooms have to be reserved through the registrar’s office, Trachtenberg said. The smaller rooms will not have to be signed up for, Greene said.
Yale is not providing any computers for the three permanent offices. Information Technology Services will maintain the computer stations as an additional computer cluster, Greene said. Yale Reprographic and Imaging Services will maintain the copiers and printers, and students will have to use copy cards to pay for copies.
Dean of Administrative Affairs John Meeske said the Committee on Undergraduate Organizations met on Jan. 28 to work out the technicalities. The committee recommended having an adult supervisor at the space to ensure equipment would not be damaged, Meeske said.
Greene said Meeske is still looking for someone to fill that position.
There are more than 200 registered undergraduate organizations, Greene said, and each group can designate five officers who get access. The Yale ID cards of these officers have already been coded for electronic access. Other members can use the facilities, but not without one of the officers present.
Bruce Alexander, the director of Yale’s Office of New Haven and State Affairs, said University Properties made the new office space available free of charge.
“We felt it was an ideal location because it is very convenient to campus and near Gourmet Heaven,” Alexander said. “There will be food all night to fuel any late-night activities. There was lots of demand for the space, but we wanted to keep it for student use.”
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