Students work to reclaim Lerner

Journalism school sees increase in applicationsHaving trouble booking space at Lerner Hall for your weekly meeting of the Science Fiction Appreciation Club? It may be because an outside group can out-pay you.

While Lerner is used as the de-facto Columbia student center, student groups do not have priority usage of its space during business hours Monday through Friday. But governing boards are working to make Lerner more accessible for clubs as they face campus space restrictions.

Both the Student Governing Board and the Activities Board at Columbia, two boards that dole out money to student groups and have been working to maximize resources for their clubs in a particularly tight year, are gathering data to make a proposal on student space reservations that would open up more times for club and groups meetings at Lerner.

Currently, student groups signed up for spaces can be bumped in favor of paying customers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

ABC president Scott St. Marie, CC ’10, wants to propose priority reservations for students on Fridays, when most are not in class and have time for group meetings. Though it is currently possible for students to book space in Lerner on Fridays, they must go through their club advisors to do so. ABC hopes to systematize that policy and “make sure that people are aware that those resources are available.”

St. Marie also suggested a system where student groups can’t be bumped from spaces by paying customers without a particular number of days’ notice. He hopes to put out a rough draft of the proposal early second semester.

SGB plans to focus on opening areas up for lunch meetings, particularly between 11:50 and 1:10 p.m., when many students have breaks in class, according to SGB board member Owais Rasool, SEAS ’11. Still, nothing has been decided upon yet, according to vice chair of SGB Lisa Weber, CC ’11.

The boards together have started space usage gathering information to present to University Event Management. The data will include the “date, time, and location of events,” given to ABC by UEM, as well as event approval forms that “track spending.” The information will produce a proposal that would hopefully get student groups their ideal spaces. With the SGB and ABC presenting the same data, St. Marie thinks they may have a stronger case.

The pre-calendaring process, or signing up for space in Lerner for the spring semester, began Monday. Scott Wright, vice president of Campus Services and overseer of UEM, described a recent meeting with students where the Columbia College Student Council and Engineering Student Council said they hoped to discuss the pre-calendaring process further.

Columbia is looking for someone to fill the new position of assistant director for student events, whose focus will be working with students to manage student events. The goals are to clarify pre-calendaring, fill unused rooms, and continue to negotiate spaces for student and for-profit groups.

The non-campus organizations using Lerner space pay the administration building use. Wright acknowledged the necessity for paying customers, but he said he is more than willing to negotiate times and conditions with students.

“We recognize the fact that they’re in a tight financial situation,” St. Marie said.

Which groups will get prime real estate? A “lack of specialized space” is the real problem behind students’ issues, said St. Marie. Groups that have specific interests, like dance clubs, can only use certain rooms for practice. Therefore, they will have priority for rooms that can best accommodate their needs.

“SGB will also join forces with ABC next semester to do pre-pre-calendaring, in which student groups can come together and discuss on what dates they hope to have their big events,” SGB secretary Beezly Kiernan, CC ’11, wrote.

But ultimately, current Lerner space constraints may not profoundly affect Columbia groups. The Diana Center at Barnard is only available to groups recognized by Barnard’s Student Government Association. To use that space, St. Marie predicts that more groups will seek dual recognition by SGA and ABC, so they can utilize both Lerner and the Diana.

SGA-only groups are permitted to reserve space in Lerner without partnering up with a dually-recognized group, as Barnard students all pay a Lerner Hall fee, according to Barnard’s Assistant Dean for Student Development, Diversity, and Activities Jessica Nunez.

St. Marie said that he sees a possible increase in clubs seeking dual recognition to be positive for the Barnard student life. Barnard Student Government Association President Katie Palillo, BC ’10, also foresees a positive outcome from the dual recognition, saying, “I think that groups become stronger, more organized, and more forward-thinking because of the space constraints.”