The reactivation of a 10-year-old policy granting office space in Robinson Hall to student organizations based on an annual application has granted offices to 19 groups previously without space, leaving others cramped or without offices.
There are over 300 student organizations at Dartmouth, only 40 percent of which have a formal office. During Spring term, the College made plans to enforce the policy for the allocation of rooms in Robinson, the primary and most coveted residence of student groups.
Patrick Connelly, assistant director of the Collis Student Center, presided over the application process. He said that his predecessor had not re-evaluated the needs of student groups for several years, and it was time to renew the policy.
According to Connelly, groups were granted space based on organization membership, contribution to the Dartmouth community, projected plans for the utilization of allotted spaces and how the group and the College as a whole would benefit from the grant of a Robinson office.
Seventy organizations applied on 30 applications. Some organizations with similar needs for resources applied together, expecting that they would be sharing space -- since the number of available rooms is limited, many must accommodate several student groups.
"There was not an application that was submitted that didn't make a powerful argument," Connelly said. "We highly encourage every organization to apply."
Of the applicants, 85 percent were allocated offices. Two new offices were created out of a storage room and a resource office.Groups cramped for space have little option for more square footage, since there are far more groups recognized by the Committee on Student Organizations than there are rooms for them to occupy.
"Office space at Dartmouth is at a premium, and the administration seems to prefer allocating it to new social initiatives or expansion of bureaucratic space at the expense of existing student organizations," said Nicolas Duquette '04, editor of the Jack-o-Lantern humor magazine.
When asked about the shortage of adequate space for students to conduct the work of their organizations, Connelly said, "We are right now actively looking to create additional office space in Collis, Robinson and Thayer."
Most publications recognized by COSO share two small, connected rooms on the first floor.
"In these two rooms there is enough space as long as more than two publications aren't trying to work at the same time," Duquette said. "It doesn't matter if there are 30 publications or two. This is all they get."
Since groups were not promised that they could retain their existing office space, many were uncertain of their future in Robinson. While some groups requested space for purposes of production, others intended their offices to be meeting spaces and storage centers.
"We didn't know if we were going to get it. We definitely need the space we were granted," said Kristin Steinert '04, president of the Aegis, which occupies a darkroom, a layout room and a business room -- separate for security reasons -- on the second floor of Robinson.
Some organizations thought that they were granted sufficient space based on their needs.
"I think the class councils should get the space every year," said Jason Ortiz, president of the Class of 2003. "A lot of student activities that go on happen through the class councils."
Ortiz said that in years past the class councils have not made the best use of their office, but a goal for this year is to change it from a storage space into a communications hub and an executive and committee meeting area. He thought that the space allotted was sufficient for the group to function.
Ann Chang '03, head of the Panhellenic Council, said that the organizations governing the Greek system at Dartmouth were granted a space, which they intend to use for storage and possibly meetings, depending on the size of the room.
No organizations previously in offices in Robinson lost space, but some were made to share their rooms with other groups. The groups new to the building that were provided with offices were: AASPIRE, Agape Christian Fellowship, Chinese Dance Troupe, Dartmouth Asian Organization, Dartmouth Chinese Culture Society, Dartmouth Filipino Group, Dartmouth Japan Society, Far Off Broadway Productions, International Student Association, Korean American Students Association, Milan, MOSAIC, Pan Asian Council, Students for a Free Tibet, The Panhellenic Council, Greek Leadership Council, Inter-Fraternity Council, and the Co-ed Council.
The Dartmouth, which leases office space in Robinson Hall from the College, is unaffected by the new policy.
