MSA meets with new master planner
The meeting was held to voice concerns regarding campus planning.
Published April 23, 2010
The new campus master planner met with members of the Missouri Students Association on Tuesday in order to get student opinion on the most pressing issues they see regarding campus facilities and space.
MSA President Tim Noce and Senate Speaker Evan Wood arranged the meeting with Linda Eastley at the campus planning presentation earlier this semester. This past week was Eastley's first official visit to campus. She resides in the Boston area and works for Sasaki Associates Inc. which, according to its website, specializes in strategic planning and landscape architecture.
The master planner is usually not in-house and typically serves a term lasting from 10 to 15 years. Eastley stressed to the group she is not campus policy-focused but rather concerned with the use of space on campus.
Wood said the meeting was productive.
"There weren't necessarily any new concerns, but it was a chance for us to voice the concerns we did have to ears that have a lot to do with the campus planning progress," Wood said. "It was definitely a good time to talk."
Eastley said she plans to return to campus in the fall and would like to meet with students again.
"I feel like we'll resume discussion on these issues with Linda Eastley in the fall when she meets with us again," Wood said. "We'll kind of see if there's anything for MSA to do, if we need to be talking to other people, we'll find out things like that."
Campus and Community Relations Committee Chairwoman Lisa Grelle said the building that houses the program is inadequate for such a growing field.
"I know that it's in the works for them to build a new building," Grelle said. "I honestly think that's the best solution, just a new building. Right now, all of the departments are cramped into a small space, including all of the clinics. There isn't enough rooms in all of the programs to accept many students."
Grelle said the field is expanding because health profession jobs provide job security after graduation.
"Definitely because it's a growing field, in these economic times especially, there's always jobs in health professions, so people are going towards a field where they have job security," Grelle said.
Grelle said the field of health professions almost guarantees a job after graduations due to high demand.
"I know people who didn't get into the occupational therapy program, so they're having to transfer," Grelle said. "That's just an example. All of the programs are so competitive just because the facilities are so small. A bigger facility could accommodate more of those students."
As a committee, Grelle said CCRC's main concerns were parking and transportation issues, as well as getting all freshman students back into on-campus housing. Senator Ryan Senciboy agreed this was a pressing issue.
"Well, I think that your freshman year is really shaped, actually really your whole college experience, is shaped by how much you get involved your freshman year," Senciboy said. "Being on campus embeds you in the everyday life of campus, in the pulse of campus itself, rather than just classes."
Senciboy said immediate analysis of the growing campus population was necessary if an adequate solution is to surface in the coming years. He listed possible solutions as constructing more residence halls, capping enrollment figures and heightening admission standards.