Filling a role traditionally played by the Student Council appropriations committee, Newcomb Hall officials will assign office space to student organizations in the coming months.
An executive decision by Council President Abby Fifer removed the appropriations committee's control over Contracted Independent Organization office space allocation. Appropriations will continue in its other function, which is assigning money from the Student Activities Fee to CIOs.
Bill Ashby, Newcomb Hall director and associate dean of students, will direct a renovation of the office space on the first floor of Newcomb Hall. He will decide what resources to include in the office space and, if applicable, assign cubicles to CIOs. Changes could include a combination of communal work space, as well as, specifically assigned office space.
Newcomb Hall officials and Council have been collaborating this year on plans to renovate the space.
Ashby especially will consult with Kelly Polk, incoming Council vice president for organizations, if needed, Fifer said.
Because of the renovations, CIOs may not find out if they will receive cubicle space until the end of this summer. However, according to Ashby, there is no set deadline for when final decisions need to made.
Once the renovations are completed they may still be subject to changes.
Final authority on what to do with the office space remains with Council, Ashby said.
"Room 164 is their space," Ashby said. "How they decide to allocate it is their decision."
But Ashby, armed with surveys filled out by representatives of CIOs spelling out their office needs, will be in charge of redesigning the office this summer, Fifer said.
Involving Ashby in allocating space will make the process much more efficient and user-friendly for CIOs, she said.
It has not been decided whether appropriations will regain control over office space after the renovation is complete, Appropriations Vice Chair Guru Raj said.
But the renovation may render the cubicle allocation process obsolete, if it eliminates the cubicles in favor of communal workspace.
Appropriations committee leaders expressed approval of the change.
"Newcomb Hall is in a better place to serve CIOs [through allocating office space] than the appropriations committee," Raj said.
The change does not amount to a bid on the part of the administration to take authority away from Council, Dean of Students Penny Rue said. Newcomb Hall officials fall under the authority of Rue's office.
"There is no agenda on Newcomb's part to take back that space," Ashby added.
Newcomb Hall always has had "supervisory authority" over the space allocation process, since the University owns Newcomb Hall, Rue said.
Moreover, the change in procedure was decided upon in collaboration with Council, she added.
Fifer and Ashby have been discussing involving Ashby in the space - allocation process for most of this year, Fifer said.
In addition, the Student Organizations and Programs Committee - a body composed of representatives of Newcomb Hall, the Dean of Students' office, and other University officials as well as Polk - recommended the change, Raj said.
"Students had been asking for this for years," Fifer said.
Ashby, Fifer and the SOP Committee also have discussed ways this year to overhaul the offices, leading to the planned renovation this summer.
Newcomb Hall probably will create more working area that can be used by any CIO, eliminating many of the cubicles, which CIOs often use for storage rather than office space, Ashby said.
Under the current configuration, only about 10 percent of the 436 CIOs at the University can use the Newcomb Hall office space, he said.
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