This semester ASG passed legislation appropriating money for Brailsford & Dunlavey (B & D), an independent student life assessment firm, to survey the student body to assess student opinion and priorities in regards to financing for a new student center. After months of work with the with B & D we are ready to launch the survey this next week.
In preparation for the survey, ASG has been working to inform students of the benefits and costs of a new student center so that students are informed when making their decisions. Below is a letter to the editor of The Miami Student that I submitted for this Friday’s edition of the paper.
I look forward to seeing the results of the survey and will share them with you here once they are available.
“As many of you know, plans for the Bicentennial Student Center are continuing to be developed this year. The building consists largely of group study space, student organizations offices, meeting rooms, new dining options and programming spaces. These benefits to our campus will be paid for from two sources: donations and student fees, the ratio of which is still to be determined.
Current plans call for the building to be opened in 2014 and at that time students at Miami will begin to pay additional student fees in order to support the construction and continued operation of the building very similar to those that we pay for the operation of the Rec Center and Goggin Ice Arena. However, this date is not set in stone and depends largely on aforementioned ratio.
This coming week I will be sending an email asking many of you for your input as to what an appropriate ratio is and other important questions concerning the Bicentennial Student Center. I hope that each of you will take this survey seriously and that you will weigh the costs and benefits for future generations of students. Following this survey, student government will use your input to make recommendations to the Board of Trustees and the Bicentennial Student Center Committee regarding how students’ fees should increase.
Additionally, student government will be working in the coming weeks and months to keep you updated with the latest developments in our student center’s design and costs. If you want to learn more about the student center, please check out our website at www.muasg.com. Also please contact me with any of your questions and concerns.”
