Concerns Raised at Community Meeting

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Photo by Emily Wolfrum

Students, administrators, faculty, and staff filled Lienhard Lecture Hall for the Community Meeting.

Emily Wolfrum, Editor-in-Chief

Student Government Association (SGA) facilitated a community meeting on Tue., Nov. 11 in Lienhard Lecture Hall.
Pace administrators, faculty, and staff, as well as President Stephen J. Friedman, were in attendance to address student concerns.
Concerns were primarily directed toward Buildings and Grounds, Chartwells Dining Services, and ITS.
Students expressed unease with the maintenance of residential halls and Mortola Library, mentioning a lack of sufficient cleaning, especially in communal bathrooms.
Problems with Chartwells included limited healthy options, overpricing, and catering service fees.
Representatives of Chartwells offered that healthy options did exist and pricing was reflective of market change and product seasons. They agreed to follow-up with individual requests and concerns.
Lack of WiFi connectivity on campus and cell service at the townhouses were also issues brought up by students in attendance.
While students were assured that a network team was looking into the problem, they were invited to take construction obstacles into consideration. Students were also reminded to register their devices.
Additional questions were asked regarding a rumored 20 percent discount on tuition for freshmen next year.
Vice President for Enrollment Management Robina Schepp neither confirmed nor denied that incoming students would be receiving a discount, but stated that scholarship amounts fluctuate from year to year.
Schepp also said that Pace was anticipating an influx in enrollment for next year as a result of construction.
Security interference was also question in regard to incidents occurring at the beginning of the semester.
Head of Security Vincent Beatty said that since the incident, all security personnel had been retrained. He noted that because on-campus officers do not carry weapons, outside assistance would be called in on issues potentially threatening to a guard’s well-being.
Vice President of Programming Tameka Bazile closed with final concerns, which included faculty parking in undesignated areas, especially on the Briarcliff Campus. She offered that students who had parked similarly were ticketed.
Announcements were made regarding the construction of Alumni Hall, which is expected to open in Fall 2015. Rooms for the building have been constructed off campus and will begin being delivered in the next month, according to Senior Vice President Bill McGrath. This process is said to take 14 weeks.
Bernice Houle, Associate Dean of Seidenberg School of Computer Science, confirmed that no decisions had been made regarding the restructuring of the school.
SGA and its Legislative Advisor Howard Weishaus plan to follow up with all administrative claims.