Creation of a campus graduate student center, the Graduate Student Commons, is an idea long in coming to fruition. With very little interaction between graduate students in different Departments, a Graduate Commons facility will provide a place for meetings, quiet study and informal gatherings, to bring all graduate students together in a sense of community.
Graduate Student Commons (GSC) was completed in 2001, and was constructed in conjunction with the Baytree Bookstore building (located adjacent to the current Baytree Bookstore). Some preliminary work on building governance policies was done early in the process by the Grad Commons Programming Committee, loosely adopting the governance board model, with the Student Center Governance board as an illustrative example.
The GSC provides 4825 asf of programmable space, which will house a vendor restaurant (currently the Whole Earth) on the ground floor with outdoor dining, an adjoining pool-table area and coffee bar, and graduate student spaces on the second floor. The second floor has an office for the Graduate Student Association, an office for the building manager (see below), a large lounge space that can accommodate 25-30 people, has flexible seating for large and small meetings, plus 2 computer terminals with campus Ethernet connections, two study rooms accommodating 3-4 people each, a large study room accommodating 10 people, and an outdoor deck.
The overall concept for this facility is to provide a comfortable and welcoming space that will attract even the most focused of graduate students, and foster graduate student interaction and a sense of community. The idea is to offer a variety of spaces, each with an atmosphere and set-up, which is very distinct, so grads wont have to be “in the mood to go to the Graduate Commons”. They w ill use it as a stop between classes, before catching a bus, or checking email before teaching section, but also as a destination for holding office hours, attending a meeting, or joining a homework study group. All of these activities will be easily accommodated by either the quiet small study rooms, or the larger and more interactive lounge area, or in the restaurant downstairs on the patio or in the pub-like poolroom. Room scheduling could be possible via the building manager or the student staff, who will monitor the facility during open hours from the lounge. We hope the graduate students may schedule study sessions, office hours, and additional discussion sections, using the GSC as a supplement to allocated office space for TA duties.
The operating budget allows for half-time manager of the building, and several student employees for information and responsibility for the building and equipment during open hours. Beyond these positions for day-to-day operation, the facility requires oversight in matters of general policy and budget, which will be administered via a governing committee (Graduate Student Commons Governance Board, or GSCGB, hereafter). The GSCGB membership has a majority of graduate students, as well as representatives from the broader campus community.
The responsibilities of the GSCGB will be to manage the budget, deal with general usage policies, and to be the liaison body for the vendor restaurant contract. General usage policies include long-term usage such as vendor space usage and study space allocation, short-term usage for special events, and normal, daily usage. More specific day-to-day operations (such as building upkeep and maintenance, distribution of building access codes, and scheduling of special events) will be under the purview of the facility manager.
The yearly membership of the GSCGB will be under the charge of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs. Administrative oversight and facility maintenance will be affiliated through the Division of Student Affairs, who will also administer the restaurant contract.
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