The Parents’ Association (PA) has once again voiced its support for the relocation of the college office to the suite that is home to the Student Union (SU) and the offices for the Spectator, Arista and the Big Sibs.
First proposed in the spring of 2006, the move would relocate the student organizations within the SU suite, except for The Spectator, to the current location of the college office, room 225. The college office would move to the SU. The SU has rejected this proposal for two consecutive years.
PA Co-President Paola de Kock and PA Co-Chair Academic Affairs Parent Marjorie Weinman met with SU representatives on Thursday, December 20 to discuss the possibility of the swap.
“You’ve outgrown the college office,” said Weinman.
Next year’s senior class has 786 students, 94 more than the number of students that the three college advisors, based in the college office, dealt with this year.
SU President Jamila Ma opposes the plan. “Just because one entity needs improvement doesn’t mean you need to detract from another entity, especially from students,” she said.
Over their four years, students might “sit in [the college office] for maybe two hours. We’re in here every single day,” Ma said of the SU.
Ma also said if the current SU became the college office, the space outside the SU, a traditional hangout for seniors, would be restricted because of noise levels. Similarly, the current college office—surrounded by a classroom and another office—would be limited as a student space.
Principal Stanley Teitel said he would consider hiring a new college advisor to handle the increased load only if more space is found for the college office. The current college office has four rooms for three college advisors, two secretaries, a large copy machine and file cabinets.
“Assuming I had the money [to hire another college advisor], where could you put the fourth counselor?” Teitel said. But he did not guarantee that a fourth college advisor would be added even if more space is found. “I will not make a promise I can’t keep,” he said.
Teitel said he will not get involved with the proposal unless the parents and the SU come to an agreement to move forward with the plan.
The parents said that the college office’s small size has led to various problems beyond limiting the number of college advisors.
According to Weinman, students who may be discussing personal issues with their college advisor lack privacy within the small quarters of the college office, where the offices are separated by only makeshift barriers rather than solid wall.
De Kock said the larger SU space could also provide a more presentable reception for college representatives.
The SU has one center room with access to five smaller rooms, some of which can be divided into smaller offices.
A Stuyvesant parent who is an architect has offered to do pro-bono work to renovate the current SU to fit the needs of the college office.
The PA would pay for the renovation. Each year, parents look to raise money from the parents of seniors for a gift to the school. The PA said it could raise as much as $150,000, including money left over from previous years, for a senior gift to renovate and create more space within the college office. The cost of renovating the SU would be less than that amount, according to Weinman.
The administration first proposed the idea of a swap in the fall of 2006, when parents, including Weinman, were considering renovating the colege office as a senior gift.
Teitel told the parents that the college office was too small for a useful renovation. An expansion of the office into the neighboring museum room, an antique classroom brought over from the old Stuyvesant building, would have been too costly, so Teitel proposed another option: a swap with the SU.
When the parents approached the SU about the proposal, the SU “said no, and that was it,” said Weinman.
The following school year, the PA brought the same proposal to former SU President George Zisiadis (‘07), who rejected it.
This fall, the PA once again approached Teitel about renovating the college office and Teitel again said the college office was too small for a renovation.
“Being stuck between a rock and a hard place, I e-mailed [Coordinator of Student Affairs Lisa Weinwurm],” Weinman said. They set up the December 20 meeting to discuss switching the SU with the college office.
“It’s time that you kids give way,” Weinman said. She said that few students use the SU. “Meanwhile, every junior, every senior needs [college office] space.”
If the SU agrees to the switch, the parents would look into “what we could do to, for lack of a better word, reward them,” Weinman said. “It’s your space, it’s your territory. I understand why it’s important to you.”
The parents would help convert the current college office into student space. “If the conversation is open, we’ll sit down to hear what they need,” Weinman said.
The swap would take place either over the April vacation or the summer.
If the SU does not accept the proposal, Weinman said the parents would reach out to the larger student body, perhaps giving a survey to find where most students stand on the issue. “We probably wouldn’t let it drop,” Weinman said. “It’s something that has to be done.”
“It’s an idea that refuses to die because the need for it increases,” de Kock said.
The SU held an executive council meeting on Thursday, January 17 where they voted on the idea. The SU voted 10 to six against the proposal, with four voting members absent.
“I don’t care about the location,” senior and Big Sib Chair Allison Weiner said. “Look at the SU now. There’s an occasional bench or chair. We don’t need all that space.”
The Arista and Big Sibs offices are less used than the main office of the SU representatives and Weinwurm, which is occupied daily.
Sophomore James Slade said the students in the SU “don’t really need [the large space]. Half the time, they’re just sitting around.”
“Well, clearly the college office is more important,” sophomore Sara Carrion said. But, she said that because “more people at one time are in the SU,” it may require more space.
“It’s a good idea for the college office because it needs more space,” senior and Arista President Mubashir Billah said. “On the other hand, the location is not ideal for the SU. Although this may be a viable option, there must be another location. This seems really drastic.”