The monthly Student Life Council (SLC) meeting was held on April 6 and focused on the theme of the Campus Center Hub. The meeting featured discussions about student life with representatives from various student clubs, organizations, government as well as academic offices, Office of Student Involvement, administration and Residential Life.

The meeting was led by Arianna Chen, FCRH ’22, executive vice president of Fordham’s United Student Government (USG). The meeting began with public agenda items. Jamie Serruto, FCRH ’24, mentioned that he had received student complaints about some of the façade construction occurring in some of the resident halls. He relayed that some students have been unable to open their windows because of the construction and have noted that noisy construction occurs when they are trying to sleep. Serruto additionally stated that some students have wondered why the air conditioning systems in resident halls have not been turned on yet. Colin Wexler, GSB ’22, responded to Serruto stating that the air conditioners only get turned on when the outside temperature reaches a certain point and that due to the colder March weather, air conditioners have not been turned on yet. As for the construction, Wexler referred Serruto to Residential Life.

The meeting then moved to the main topic of the meeting, the Campus Center Hub. Jonathan Crystal, Ph.D., vice provost, and professor Dawn Lerman, Ph.D., attended the meeting to discuss a new app that would serve as the new “hub” of student life. According to Crystal, having a platform that would allow students to find answers to their questions in one location would decrease the student’s concerns about getting shuffled around from department to department. The new hub would also include personalized student information such as grades, financial aid information, student health appointments, attendance, academic holds, etc. It would also allow students to search for resources regarding different campus functions. According to Crystal, this system is most comparable to the SSC navigate system; however, the new Campus Center Hub would work for all parts of the university, not just academic advising. Additionally, this new program would have the ability to interface with existing platforms like Handshake, DegreeWorks and Blackboard. The hub is in the early stages of development and can be modified. Crystal and Lerman came to the meeting seeking feedback from students and faculty on aspects they should add or take away from the program.

Most students expressed excitement about the new hub. Many agreed with the sentiment that having a place where all questions could be answered would be helpful. Audrey Felton, FCRH ’22, USG’s vice president of operations, proposed the addition of a monthly calendar where students could see all club, athletic, academic and other events happening on campus. Thomas Reuter, FCRH ’22, president of USG, proposed looking into synching the hub with Google Calendar. Sarah Goldstein, FCRH ’23, noted concern that the hub may be difficult for upperclassmen to adjust to. She stated that when Fordham’s website changed its layout during summer 2021, many returning students cited difficulty navigating it. Christopher Rodgers, dean of students, noted that the Campus Center Hub may make the idea of “co-curricular transcripts” possible.

The discussion then moved to the McShane Center, providing updates on the ongoing construction. Stephen Clarke, assistant director for campus center operations, opened by saying that the Ram Fit Center had recently been approved to increase its capacity to 280 people. Additionally, there is currently work being done to remove the weather wall in-between the renovated gym and the old one. According to Clarke, work is being done to make sure the fire alarms in both sections are synchronized, which must be done before the wall is removed.

A question was asked about student reservations to use the Ram Fit Center and if the new capacity limit could signal the end of the reservation system. Clarke referred the student to Athletics and Public Safety, stating that they were the ones who make decisions regarding the reservation system. “This change in capacity helps that conversation,” said Clarke on the reservation system.

Additionally, construction in the campus center is fully in phase two. The arcade connecting the McShane Center to the McGinley center is expected to be completed around fall 2023. Alex Chavez, GSB ’23, USG’s vice president of finance and budgets, asked Clarke if there would be more commuter lockers than in the McGinley Center. Clarke responded that there will be new electronic commuter lockers in the new campus center and that he had requested more than were originally in the McGinley Center; however, the amount of lockers that can actually be installed is dictated by physical space.
In terms of COVID-19, Rodgers noted success in re-entry testing following Spring Break. He said that the university was expecting more positive cases than actually occurred and a majority of the students complied with the deadline.

“Compliance has been great. Tremendous credit to students for meeting the deadline,” said Rodgers. Because of the low numbers of positive tests following spring break, Rodgers said that reentry testing post-Easter break is not required. He did also mention that this could be revised given COVID-19 trends. All currently active COVID-19 cases have been able to fit in Finlay Garden level, and the Fordham off-campus isolation spaces have been closed.

Charles Clency, assistant dean of students and director of residence life, stated that anyone that has a valid COVID-19 vaccination record should be able to enter campus. Overnight guests in residence halls, which are currently prohibited, are expected to return in the fall semester. Clency said that residential life is prepared to comply with that policy to bring back guests as soon as the university approves it.

The meeting concluded with graduating seniors saying goodbye and acknowledging that the next SLC meeting will be run by newly elected student leadership.