|
 With the goal of gaining insight into student perspectives, a new campus tour was recently organized for approximately 20 representatives of student-organized conferences, the Student Union (SU), and academic, cultural and community-service clubs.
After touring the campus for an hour, the representatives met with Ashraf Salloum, director of planning and design for new campus development, to ask questions about the construction and layout of the new campus based on the specific needs of their clubs and the student body in general. The students raised questions on topics from electricity and Internet facilities to copy centers and booths for clubs.
“I really think the campus seems up to standards,” said Sally Aguib, journalism and mass communication senior and editor in chief of Dimensions, the SU newspaper. “I think it will be a challenge at the beginning to supply all the 45 clubs on campus with facilities such as copy centers and items needed to carry out events, but I do think it will work out eventually.”
Sharing the same view, Tamer Abdul Aziz, electronics engineering senior and president of Volunteers in Action, noted, “I think it is a marvelous campus.” Abdul Aziz raised a concern about the unavailability of built-in booths for the clubs, but Salloum noted that mobile booths will be provided, along with cubicles for each club to store its computers and supplies.
The new campus spans 260 acres, compared to the 7.3-acre downtown campus. It is designed to accommodate 5,500 full-time students and 1,500 faculty and staff members, with room for expansion. The move from downtown to the new campus will begin in June 2008, and the campus will be ready for occupancy in September 2008.
|
