On Thursday students sat down with the Penn State Provost Nicholas P. Jones to discuss the Penn State Behrend campus.

 

Jones began his visit by introducing himself and explaining a little bit of what he does. He told students his job keeps him busy but he loves it because, “we are here to serve first and foremost our students.” Jones visited Penn State Behrend with an entourage which consisted of Mary Ortiz, Michael Kubit, David Monk, William Sitzabee and Kathleen Bieschke.

 

Jones explained to students that meetings such as these were important because, “it is literally where the rubber meets the road.” He opened the meeting with two questions, “what has really been special about your experience here at Behrend” and “if you could change something what would it be?”

 

The students who attended the meeting were proud of the education they were currently receiving at Behrend. Many of the students who attended currently work as resident assistants, while others represented groups on campus. Morgan Shaw, a member of  the Lion Ambassadors, explained that when giving tours she waves to almost everyone and when visitors comment she tells them, “we are small enough that no matter where you go you always have a friend.” She said that this usually resonated with the potential students.

 

Other topics besides the great community that were mentioned included, the idea of having the library be open 24/7 during finals week, allowing students to access the resource as much as needed for exam crunch time. Another item the students brought up was the excellent job Behrend does at offering great work opportunities to students, not only through work but also research, and work study.

 

A large chunk of the meeting was spent discussing Behrend athletics and athletic facilities. The students pointed out the fact that Behrend athletics is quickly outgrowing the provided space. Holly Hanson, a pre-law and economic major, explained that the water polo team often has to wait to practice until 10 p.m., practicing until midnight every Wednesday night. She also explained that the pool isn’t the only place suffering. Gym goers often have to compete for treadmills and other utilities in the gym. The worry of available space led to discussions about Erie Hall’s renovations, which are due to occur within the next five years.

 

Jones explained to students that the project is on the books and they are currently working on how to work around the space problem. He handed over the topic to Sitzabee who discussed the project with students. He explained that “tired” facilities such as Erie Hall are hard to do is phases, and in turn are more cost effective to demo and rebuild. However, the demolishing of a building as prevalent as Erie Hall means displacing many student activities and creating alternative plans for those who have been displaced. Sitzabee explained that they could build elsewhere but the location is prime, and so, “now we have to do that hard work and figure out how we can accomodate the programs while we take it down and bring it back up, a building of that size will be down for at least a year.” There are 326 student athletes on campus and with the growing amount of students,the availability for new facilities has become rather prevalent. Sitzabee assured students saying, “the new designs should be launched soon.”

 

The students and faculty finished out their talks with a discussion on the coming ban on tobacco. Next year Behrend, along with the rest of the Penn State campuses, will be joining many of the big 10 in universities to place a ban on tobacco. While many of the attending students expressed the fact that they approved of the new movement, they explained that they worried about enforcing the new ban and how it may affect other students who already smoke. The ban is not only against cigarettes but also vaping and chewing. However, Jones and his college seemed to stand by the upcoming ban saying within five years they hope it will benefit not only the campuses, but also the Penn State community.

 

Overall, Jones’ visit to Behrend gave students a platform to voice their concerns and Jones was able to listen to them.