University undergraduates may be seeing more older faces around Central Grounds once the proposed new student center is built, according to Student Council President Abby Fifer and graduate student leaders.
Fifer met recently with representatives from the Student Bar Association and the Graduate Student Association to discuss ways to make the proposed center an attractive destination for graduate students.
Giving graduate students an incentive to spend more time on Central Grounds could be a way of "getting graduate students who didn't necessarily attend [the University] as undergrads to feel more a part of the greater University," said Kendall Day, a third-year Law student and president of the Student Bar Association who met with Fifer.
A 24-hour coffeehouse and a sports bar where students could watch the University's away sporting events, for example, could draw graduate students to the new center, Day suggested. A wine bar and a satellite bursar's and registrar's office also were suggested at the meeting, Fifer said.
Fifer said she is gathering ideas for the proposed new center by holding "informal conversations" with both undergraduate and graduate students. She stressed the need for good communication between Student Council and graduate students.
"It's a good change in direction from the past," Day said. "The graduate campus was perceived to be somewhat on its own."
The proposed new center would complement Newcomb Hall, the current student center, not replace it, Fifer said.
Though demand for a new student center is relatively high among undergraduates, Day said, "there isn't an overwhelming demand" for the center among graduate students. However, graduate students probably will be more excited about a new center once they learn what opportunities the center may bring, he added.
The next step in planning the center will be for the University to hire a consulting firm that has experience with student centers at other universities.
The firm, which will charge between $70,000 and $90,000, "might come up with possibilities we've never thought of," Fifer said.
Fifteen million dollars is "a cheerful estimate" of the total cost of a new center, Fifer said. Council hopes to combine private donations with state bonds issued to the University to fund the center. The University could later pay the state back with funds generated by sales of food or other products in the new center, she said.
Right now spring 2003 is the most optimistic goal for beginning construction on the new building.
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