Volker updates Student Senate on Lincoln construction

LINCOLN – Construction on campus was the focus of the most recent Lincoln Student Senate meeting on Monday, April 30.
The Southeast Community College Student Senate meeting began at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, April 30, in the Lincoln Campus Student Center.
This meeting was not in usual format, featuring Lincoln Campus Director and Student Services Vice President Jeanette Volker speaking on the construction occurring on the Lincoln campus.
She went over the details of the new section’s layout, citing that Student Services would be “front-and-center” for easy access.  The added room, she added, would be beneficial.
“We’re very thrilled,” she said.  “You know how packed they are in student services!”
Volker commented that the layout will be intuitive.  “You will know where the front entrance is,” she noted, commenting with a smile that current students and visitors are often confused where to meet advisors and guides for campus tours.
She added that there will be a designated waiting area with “comfy-type furniture.”  A new multi-purpose room with dividable sections, comparable to the Lincoln campus student center meeting rooms, is included in the plans.
The Family and Consumer Sciences and Business Administration departments will be among the programs expanding upon the completion of the expansion.  Volker also noted that academic advisors will be found on the lower level of the expansion.  When asked about the current student services center, Volker replied that the student cafeteria is in need of expansion and remodeling.
“We are going to remodel the cafeteria and the food service program (in that space),” and she added that the food service program needs the space.  “We are just bursting at the seams.”
Volker also told the senate that SCC is thinking ahead for future expansion, noting that the “U” section of the Lincoln campus (the eastern-most wing) can be extended from its current location towards the parking lot into the currently unoccupied green space.
In addition to the Lincoln campus on 8800 O Street, Volker also touched on the fact that SCC had “just bought the second floor in Energy Square,” a satellite campus located at 1111 O Street in Lincoln, and it is undergoing remodeling.
She added that the soon-to-be-merged Visual Publications and Graphic Design programs will be held in the newly acquisitioned space.  Remodeling is slated to be finished in time for the Graphic Design/Media Arts program’s debut in January 2013.
The current construction is speculated to be finished this summer, but Volker said that classes will not be held there during the summer quarter.  The move will commence as the facilities are finished and equipped.