Administrators at the University of Massachusetts Boston are discussing the future of an uninhabited yet potentially useful part of the 3rd floor campus center with students and faculty in hopes of finding purpose for the space.
Although the ‘Campus Center Point Lounge’ currently acts as a random space full of chairs and tables and offers a fantastic view of the campus, the potential of the lounge is now being considered in terms of a great opportunity for many purposes at UMB.
Hanna Doggett, a senior at UMB, said she feels the Point Lounge could be put to greater use-for students.
“They should add more tables and more comfortable chairs and turn this into a space like the campus center’s upper level, where students can study and relax in between classes,” Doggett said. “It is annoying when [faculty] kick the students out of the lounge for conferences-there are plenty of available rooms, they don’t need this one.”
Other opinions have been floating around the campus as well. Christopher DuComb, a junior at UMB, said he feels the Point Lounge should be turned into a computer lab while freshman Amanda Makosky said she thinks the lounge should be made into a study-area like the library.
Despite the plethora of student comments suggesting purposes for the lounge, there is yet to be a solid plan of action for it’s future viability.
Shelby Harris, Director of the Office of Student Activities and Leadership at UMB said that when fourteen students from different organizations met with Facilities staff and members of design firm GouldEvans November 17, it was clear that the overall decision was to develop the Point Lounge into a welcoming space for students.
“It’s the beginning, not the end,” Harris said about Monday’s discussion.
Other ideas discussed at the meeting included turning the space into a meeting room, giving organizations like the student senate the privacy they need to discuss sensitive issues.
Overall though, it was decided that, for the time being, the Point Lounge would be used for signage to advertise the Office of Student Activities and Leadership, so that students would not only know where to find these organizations, but would also feel welcome in approaching their representatives.
“My goal is to get more signage out there over the Winter break,” Harris said.
If you have a plausible idea for the use of the Point Lounge, keep your eyes and ears open for news of upcoming meetings concerning the topic.