After-Hours Study Lounge Opens
NMU students now have an after-hours study lounge on campus. It is located in the LRC commons area and stays open until 3 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.
“This has been a project in the making for a few years,” said ASNMU President Erik Maillard. “An overriding complaint among students has been that the library isn’t open long enough. We initially tried to extend the library hours, but found the resources required to keep it open were high and that students didn’t necessarily need that. What they really wanted was an area with wireless Internet suitable for studying. We found a spot that works and the support for this has been overwhelming. We’ve been getting a lot of e-mails expressing thanks. With fairly limited publicity, we’re seeing good numbers already.”
Maillard said ASNMU received one-time funding to support the project through the remainder of the academic year. Student use will be monitored and analyzed to determine whether the lounge should remain an after-hours study option.
“We understand the budget situation is tight, so we want to make sure we’re not wasting resources,” he added. “We were able to get some one-time funding to cover the cost of monitoring the area through the end of the semester and then we’ll reevaluate. If we don’t see enough student participation, it won’t continue.”
Public Safety and Police Services has hired students to serve as security monitors. The student on duty walks through the building a couple of times each hour. He or she can radio Public Safety for immediate assistance if any problems surface.
“I’ve come in a few nights to check it out and it’s been very quiet,” said Don Peterman (Public Safety and Police Services). “It’s being used for what it was intended for—studying. There was a need there and I’m glad the university made that space available to students.”
Peterman said use of the lounge varies throughout the course of the evening, but as many as 36 students were counted from 11 p.m. to midnight on one of its first nights of operation. |
