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Students respond to newly renovated second floor of Clemons

Clemons’ new study space, advising center opened Oct. 4

<p>The second floor of Clemons Library opened Oct. 4</p>

The second floor of Clemons Library opened Oct. 4

The second floor of Clemons Library recently reopened for student use Oct. 4 and is the culmination of a series of renovations that started in spring 2016.

The Clemons renovation comes as an implementation of the Total Advising aspect of University President Teresa Sullivan’s Cornerstone Plan, which consists of “pillars” and “stages” to bring the Total Advising vision along. 

In an email to The Cavalier Daily, Kathryn Densberger, director of the Dathel and John Georges Student Center, stated that the new center was placed in Clemons due to its ideal and familiar location. 

“Students are quite comfortable in this building, so this is really a way to bring services most directly to where students already are,” Densberger said. 

Densberger also said that the space’s transformation into a fully functioning advising center will be gradual. Several services are slated to begin this fall, with more and more resources being added as the academic year progresses. Full services and programming should be in place by the start of the fall 2018 term.

“In January, the front desk will be staffed with knowledgeable student employees who will help to run the space and will also be able to direct their peers to resources for support, information, or opportunities,” Densberger said. “I also expect that a number of offices will begin to hold regular office hours in Center … By fall of 2018, I hope to be offering a pretty full slate of programming in the space.”

Student’s reactions to the renovated Clemons space are generally positive, with students expressing favorable opinions of both the study space and Clemons as a whole. 

Third-year College student Kyle Bruce addressed the library’s new modifications and said it’s long been a favored study spot for him. 

“When I was a first year, Clem 2 was where I did most of my work — or at least tried to — and it looked very similar to the first floor,” Bruce said. “I like this new design though — it’s very modern. Now the space allows for this type of collaboration in addition to the advising component it boasts.”

Second-year College student Andrew Orgel also gave a favorable review of the new space, but noted that its popularity does have a downside with its high noise levels. 

“Nice setup — I like the extra study space and the glass rooms,” Orgel said. “It gets pretty loud when it’s crowded.”

Second-year College student Brooke Adams said she appreciated the addition of the new advising space in Clemons.  

“I like how all the career and graduate school counseling services have moved to Clem 2,” Adams said. “Seeking guidance has now become so much easier since it is all located in the same space. I also really like all the additional study rooms making finding a place to study as a group a little less of a hassle.”

As a part of the first pillar of the Cornerstone Plan, improvements to the second level of Clemons began in the spring of 2016 after the University received a philanthropic gift so the area could be renovated into the Dathel and John Georges Student Center.  The Clemons advising area will be used for “academic, career and personal advising,” and have a much different focus than what the often times more noisy and teamwork-oriented Clemons 2 of the past offered. 

The first advising-related event in the new space is scheduled to take place during Course Advising Days held Nov. 1 and 2 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Eleven offices will be participating with representatives on hand to answer individual questions. Many offices will be giving brief presentations as well.  

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