Plans about the future of the Country Club Apartments were presented at the Feb. 21 meeting of the Student Government Association (SGA). Dan Scapardine, senator of Culture and Society, said the apartments would not be included in the spring housing lottery.
Scapardine said the office of Student Life, with the Trenton State College Corp. (TSCC), which is in charge of rental housing at the College, said the configuration of the apartments hindered their functionality as a residence hall. Scapardine mentioned a lack of lounges and other common areas, which help facilitate community development, as reasons for the change. Student Life also noted that Residence Life programming events were difficult to coordinate in the apartments.
Scapardine said the apartments will remain affiliated with the College but will no longer remain as an official residence hall. Instead, TSCC will convert the apartments to be used in a College-sponsored tenant-landlord based system.
TSCC is still working out the details of the future use of the apartments. They will be opened to students at the top of the housing waitlist for the Fall 2007 semester. Scapardine said if TSCC cannot convert the apartments to a tenant-landlord based system, they will be sold.
Chris Rindosh, vice president of Student Services, announced plans for SGA sponsorship of student organizations. "It is our job to be the umbrella organization for student organizations on campus," Rindosh said.
Under this new program, each SGA senator would be assigned to a specific student organization. The senator would be responsible for maintaining contact with the organization to assure its success.
Rindosh described the responsibility of the senator as "an official liaison to SGA." SGA liaisons would evaluate their designated organizations, answer questions regarding student organization policy and provide general advice on organization management and meetings.
Michael Strom, vice president of Legal and Governmental Affairs, discussed the March 1 state budget cuts meeting. It will outline the detriments of cuts made to the 2007 state budget and was created to increase awareness among students at the College. "Every student should attend," Strom said.
James Gant, executive vice president, discussed last semester's Campus Night Walk, which allowed students to address concerns about safety at the College. The Campus Night Walk yielded a four-page document, which listed 61 separate safety issues.
Gant said this document was presented to Curt Heuring, vice president for Facilities Management, and to the office of Campus Police. Heuring assured SGA that progress has been made in addressing these concerns and that they will continue to be addressed throughout the semester.
