The Business and Finance Committee passed a business resolution 4-0-0 to fund renovations to Alexander Music Building at its regular meeting Tuesday night, March 29, in the Student Center. Student Government will revise the FY16 budget to allocate $30,000 to renovate the building this summer. The Senate will review the resolution at 6:30 p.m., April 5, in Student Center Room 300.
The total cost of the renovation is $74,000. The School of Music and Dance has committed $10,000 to the renovations, students have raised $6,000, and the Dean’s office will be asked to cover the remaining cost.
Student Government Vice President Anjali Martin said the cost of the renovation will be split into five tiers. The tiers are as follows: $16,100, electrical and flooring; $15,700, laminate table tops and seats; $14,100, lounge chairs and tables; $21,600, feature lounge chairs and large tables; and $6,500, upholstered chairs, tables, and benches. A fifteen percent contingency has been added to each tier to account for unplanned findings.
“The intent is to have all of this done and constructed over the summer so that come the fall semester this is ready to go and new students are able to enter and compete and audition based off of a nice looking four-point and a nice looking area for auditions,” Martin said.
Roger Vajda, a sophomore music education student who presented to the committee, authored the resolution. He has worked on the resolution for the last two years.
Vajda said renovating the building will attract incoming students to the university. He said the look of a building does affect the way prospective students feel about the School of Music and Dance. The music building’s lounge has not been renovated since the building’s construction.
“It’s really important that this space is nice for recruiting purposes for our school,” Vajda said. “Especially when we’re going up and competing for schools against Central [Michigan University], Grand Valley [University], Michigan State [University], all of which have relatively new department buildings.”
Alexis Sikes, a sophomore music education student, said the set up of the lobby area, which is used as a lounge area by students, is not “conducive” to its function. EMU’s Interior Design and Sustainability department has designed a new space for the lounge which has been approved by the Dean of the School of Music and Dance and the Student Government Executive Board.
“I think it’s important that we have the most modern facilities that provide the greatest opportunities to students and attract prospective new students here to EMU,” Senator Joseph Pernicano said.
The committee also allocated Club Ultimate Frisbee $1,150 for registration fees. $550.20 remains in the Club Sports Allocation budget.
The Academic and Student Affairs committee passed a resolution 5-0-0, authored by Senator Tanasia Morton, to urge Campus Life to add an information session on financial aid, dining, and housing during Fast Track. There is currently a session on these topics for parents, but not for students.
Morton said students should be aware of their options before making decisions concerning financial aid, dining, and housing. According to the resolution, the Office of Financial Aid has asked to talk to students during Fast Track.
The resolution will be reviewed by the Senate next Tuesday.
The Public Affairs Committee discussed the Day in Lansing event which will be held April 12. The day will give 20 members of the Eastern Michigan University community a chance to learn about laws and how they affect the community.
Senators on the Public Affairs Committee will look at legislator voting habits in bills related to higher education funding, sexual assault prevention, capital outlay, higher education metrics, and community college and the nursing bill.
The Internal Affairs Committee meeting was canceled due to lack of items.
For more information on Student Government and the full meeting schedule, go here.
