By Noemi Garcia |Staff Writer|
CSUSB President Dr. Tomás Morales plans to renovate the campus, including the Santos Manuel Student Union (SMSU) and the Pfau Library at the beginning of summer 2016.
“CSUSB is the region’s cornerstone for social and economic prosperity,” stated Morales on the website.
To continue being the “cornerstone,” the school is making changes in order to improve the campus.
The plan is not only to expand the SMSU, but to give the school a makeover.
The makeover plans are located in the library’s first floor next to the elevators.
Some students had not noticed what the plans were for, but when brought to their attention, they did not have a hard time pointing out the necessity.
“Another wing in the SMSU would be nice, but maybe a second bookstore would be convenient, especially when the seniors are buying their graduation stuff,” said student Andres Soria.
Students are excited about this expansion; however, some would like to see older buildings reinforced first.
“It’s great that CSUSB is planning on expanding, but first, I think that they need to work on the interior of some of our older buildings like the Pfau Library and the Chaparral Hall,” said student Maria Campos.
The school is celebrating its 50th anniversary, meaning, some buildings have been around for half a century.
“Both buildings have air conditioning problems and it can be quite daunting to try and concentrate on a subject matter when you feel like you are burning,” added Campos.
“The CSU Board of Trustees has approved nearly $50 million in CSUSB requests over the upcoming years for the repair and improvement of current campus buildings, including a significant investment in core campus infrastructure (electricity, plumbing, heating/air conditioning, and technology infrastructure), as well as an expansion of the CSUSB central plant to increase capacity for these services to an expanding campus,” said Morales in a telephone interview.
There are three specific changes that are scheduled: the parking lot, library and other instructional offices.
As large as these projects sound, “Project completion is anticipated in Sept. for the start of the Fall 2016 term,” stated President Morales.
Students have voiced their thoughts about the dining options here on campus and Morales addressed this, “The dining hall will be a multi-level center of student life featuring two distinct service concepts: an all-you-care-to-eat dining center with multiple food platforms, tiered indoor and outdoor seating, and reserve able meeting rooms; and a cash operation offering all-day and night options, including a wide ranging menu, grill, coffee and beverage services, and full-service convenience store,” said Morales.
“There is a lot of real positive change since we have really out grown the facilities,” added Morales.
Students would also like to see a variety of activities done on campus.
“I think there should be different business on campus, selling their products because it catches the attention of the students,” said student Noe Ramos.
This quarter, some students say they have not seen as many vendors on campus.
“It catches the attention of students, when they see the vendors and are more likely to hang around and then they’ll learn more about the school they attend,” concluded Ramos.
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