AC, study space get a boost

Students at Wilfrid Laurier University may be greeted with some improvements on campus next year, thanks to the Student Life Levy (SLL) fund.

Among some of the projects that were approved Tuesday morning by the SLL committee were renovations to the Athletic Complex’s change rooms, the Solarium study space and many more.

“We had several products come to the committee [Tuesday] morning, and this particular committee that we have is mostly students and some university administration,” said Nick Gibson, the president and CEO of the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union and a member of the committee.

“SLL is not meant to be a fund that you take from multiple times, it’s meant to be something that enhances student life and it’s going to be there continually,” he added.

With a pool of approximately $650,000, the SLL committee heard from various groups and people on campus about their proposals. Each student, if they take four or five courses a semester typically pay around $25 towards the SLL.

According to Gibson, the AC will get a dramatic facelift in terms of new lockers and other various renovations, all of which were not included in the original renovation plan for the AC.

As a result of contributing to this renovation, the SLL committee urged the university to contribute to new fitness equipment. However, these funds will not come from the SLL.

As for the Solarium study space, Gibson said the SLL will contribute to the renovation to create a more comfortable and quiet study space.

“Study space has been somewhat of an issue on this campus, but quiet study space is more of an issue, so I think that will be a real positive project for next year,” he said, noting that the deferred maintenance costs will be covered by the university.

Some other projects included a video conferencing system that will be able to be used by the students’ union, campus clubs and any other group on campus.

“Using technology to communicate will allow us to be a lot more efficient with our operations without having to travel,” he continued.

Radio Laurier also received funding from the SLL for more digital remote equipment to more effectively broadcast sporting events and report from different areas on campus.

All the money, however, was not spent and Gibson noted that many projects at the presentations Tuesday morning had to be denied because they didn’t have tangible plans once the SLL funding runs out.

At this point, most of the projects, in principle, are approved by the committee and will be implemented at some point next year.

“Most are approved in principle at this point, but there were some conditions placed on some of them that we need some more information,” he said. “[But] I’m pretty excited for all of them.”

Other members of the committee include WLUSU board member Luke Dotto, chair of the WLUSU board Chris Walker, Laurier president Max Blouw and other members of the university administration.