At the final meeting of the Student Government Association (SGA) Senate before spring break, President Ali Houshmand revealed big plans about the future footprint of campus as well as other topics.
Houshmand was attending another meeting, so he had SGA president Daniel Cardona deliver his remarks.
By far the biggest item in Houshmand’s report were plans for a significant addition to the Chamberlain Student Center.
Within the next five to seven years, construction may begin on a new, larger ballroom that would make up a newly constructed fourth floor of the building, Cardona said. The new project would also connect the Student Center to the library by way of a sky bridge.
Cardona said the addition comes out of necessity.
“It is something that Rowan University needs,” he said. “Our Student Center is getting a little dated so it needs a little expansion.”
The rest of the plan, Cardona said, is to knock down Linden Hall and use the space to construct a building with labs and classrooms that would be used by students from multiple colleges for studying and completing projects, as opposed to being used for regular classes.
Rowan is also considering renovations of the north residence halls, which include Magnolia, Willow and Chestnut, but it is not clear what form those renovations will take at this time.
“There’s a lot of cost to [the dorms], because students accidentally poke holes, and then you have to change sheetrock,” Cardona said. “Hopefully in a future time at Rowan, they’re going to fully restore them and make them beautiful again, or they’re gonna knock them down and just build new ones.”
Besides construction, the president’s address provided an update on his promise to not raise tuition more than the price of inflation. As of Monday night’s meeting, the cost of tuition is not expected to rise more than 2.4 percent for the next school year.
Other business during the meeting included moving Rowan’s Love Your Melon, Writing Arts Club and H.O.P.E. Through Wellness into the petitioning stage of club development. SGA also announced the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers as February’s “Club of the Month.”
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