Compared to student unions in the surrounding area that are bustling places filled with food courts and student activity, the Harter Student Union’s amenities may seem lackluster.
“When I show potential students around campus, we almost try to avoid the Union,” senior University Admissions Assistant Anna Richards said. “We’re known for having a beautiful campus and the Union goes against that. Plus the layout and functionality are really confusing for them.”
It was this concern that prompted President Pat Long and BU staff to start plans to update the Harter Union. One of the first places the renovation focus group went to for ideas was to the users themselves: the students.
Through various outlets, the focus group gained insight about what students believe to be top priority for amenities for the new facility. The first sentence architect Kyle Trendel said to the Student Senate on Tuesday was “I want to get you guys involved in this.”
“I think it was very important to have the students who are going to use the facilities be heard so they could have their key points and key amenities brought up to have in the facility,” Trendel said. “To hit the important factors for those students now and in the future is the reason why the students need to be involved.”
At the senate meeting, the group of interior designers and Trendel emphasized the idea of a “community-based place for people to gather and for students to interact.” Trendel and the designers suggested an open floor plan with services that would attempt to raise the student retention rate on weekends. Ideas given were a coffee shop, a convenience store and rentable games.
The focus group also asked the students questions such as “what drove you here as a student?” and “what do you want to see your union do for you?” These were questions the group thought would help them in their quest to create a functional and remarkable student union for BU.
“I feel like students who choose Baker want that small community experience where they don’t feel lost in the crowd,” freshman Bryan Richardson said. “If we could confront them with all the organizations and a place where they can go where they feel involved and important then they won’t feel lost. I think the student union is a place where everybody should be able to go and feel involved and important.”
Although no plans have officially been set into motion, each meeting the focus group has with students gives them more insight into what is needed on campus. The group’s next step is to take their long list of questions to the faculty and staff.
“Probably some more meetings to get some more ideas flowing will be beneficial,” Junior Class Vice President Eldina Kunic said. “But I think some of the ideas we threw out were fantastic and it was a good start. The value of these meetings are just collecting ideas in general, but I think we really created something here as students.”
