SORC opens for student groups
Naomi Parikh
Issue date: 1/16/09 Section: News
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"This will be a new 'one-stop-shop' for the campus student organizations," Dave Ruth, dean of students, said. "It's something I've been looking forward to for a long time."
Ruth also said that the Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee supported not just one, but all of the over 200 student organizations on campus by funding the renovation.
"This is a place for you students to come collaborate and work together on ideas and projects," Ruth said. "The work you do helps make the campus more vibrant."
Jim Tucker, senior vice president of Student Life and Administrative Services, said the new work space should help make the students more successful in their groups.
According to Ruth, the space offers the advantage of having the SORC staff in one location to serve the student organizations, which will lead to an "enhanced quality of campus life."
Dustin Ingram, president of the Habitat for Humanity chapter at Drexel and a pre-junior majoring in computer science, said the new area was something the student organizations really needed.
"In the past, everything was quite scattered, but now everyone has really been brought together," Ingram said. "I think it also shows a renewed interest by the University in the student organizations."
"I am extremely proud and pleased with the entire area," Ruth said. "I was surprised that it came through so efficiently and cost-effectively, but we were able to use our resources and be smart about the project."
Ari Hauben, director of Campus Activities, said the area offers students a place to spend their time and interact with one another and the staff.
"What we never had on campus before was a home base for student organizations," Hauben said. "Now, that's what we have. It's a place solely dedicated to serve the student organizations."
Jessica Edonick, director of Commuter, Graduate and Transfer Student Programs, said that through a focus group and survey with the Undergraduate Student Association, SORC found that students wanted a common space.
"We've given them the opportunity to interact, and we've brought all the material and human resources to the students in one place," Edonick said.
Lauren Palmer, a chemical engineering major who works with the Commuter Student Programs and Services, said the area helped the staff as well as the students.
"Before, we'd have events and I'd be running up and down to get things," Palmer said. "Now, it's much more cohesive and concentrated."
The new space also has "smart" conference rooms, with a projector, DVD and CD player and speakers, according to Edonick.
"These are great if students have presentations or workshops, and it allows them to bring their laptops or even gaming systems to plug in here," Edonick said.
The new work space features computers, a color printer, a helium tank, a copier, office supplies, plotter printer for larger projects and two conference rooms available by reservation through the SORC secretary.
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