'hursday, October 26, 1995 Pres. "Jewel by Danielle M. Murphy News Editor "Penn State-Behrend is one of the jewels of the Penn State system," said University President Graham B. Spanier at a press conference Wednesday at the Avalon Hotel in downtown Erie. Dr. Spanier, as part of a tour of all commonwealth campuses of Penn State, was in Erie yesterday. His day at Behrend included a campus tour, a meeting with faculty and staff, "Coffee with the Provost," as well as meetings with the Rotary Club and the press. "It’s a wonderful, wonderful campus," said Dr. Spanier about his visit to Behrend. "It's a very attractive mix of old and new buildings. The campus here is very good, the people are friendly, they have excellent education facilities." "I am very pleased with what I've seen here," Dr. Spanier added. During his visit. Dr. Spanier discussed Behrend's past achievements, "What they've done here in the last five to ten years is turn out 3,200 students with baccalaureate and Masters degrees... While serving the region very well." Rumors have circulated about the creation of multi-campus colleges throughout the Penn State commonwealth campuses. Behrend expansion... Five story residence hall to be constructed by Bryan Harkins Collegia* Staff Behrend is looking to temporarily solve a re-occuring problem: housing. Even though Happy Halloween from The Collegian! Cf The Behrend College 11 • olle ' “Coffee with the Provost:” President Spa s with students about their concerns as Dean John Lilley looks on. For Behrend, this would mean the Shenango and Dußois Campuses. "We just recently launched a study that will take us most of the year," said Dr. Spanier. "A study of the future of our commonwealth education system. A study which includes Penn State-Erie." "What we want to do in that study is look at the demands of each of the campuses," Dr. the suites were just finished in 1991, there is still a need for more on-campus housing. According to the head of Housing and Food Services, Mr. Molfinger, "We desperately need more housing. There's a shortage of it now." In response to this problem, Behrend is going to build a new residence hall starting in the spring of 1996. The expected completion date of the building is the fall of 1997. Last year, the list to get on campus housing contained over 100 names; this year there are over 220 names on the list. If effective, the new building will allow Behrend to accommodate a list of this size. Ken Miller, Associate Dean of Student Affairs, commented as to the effectiveness of the residence Erie, PA 16563 Span of Penn State" Spanier continued. "We want to make sure that we understand which of our campuses is well positioned for re-organization." Dr. Spanier spoke about the financial challenge facing Penn State. "The biggest challenge facing Penn State right now is re acquainting the people of Pennsylvania with the great asset they have in our university," said Dr. Spanier. hall. "1 think it will have a significant short term impact." Ed Molfinger, director of Housing and Food Services also has an optimistic approach to the project. "Hopefully, it will alleviate [housing] problems and we can progress as we need to." The new residence hall will be comparable to the suites and "...it should cost no more than $4 million [to build and furnish]," said Molfinger in an interview. Students will be able to live in the new residence hall for about the same amount of money that it costs them to live in the suites. Miller said, "My guess is that the price will be on par with the suites, but it's not yet set." Students will be accepted into the new hall on a first come, first serve basis. From what ier visits "Which has not been translated in recent years into a level of financial support from the legislature that allows us to really fulfill the commission we have as a university. We are very eager to make sure that we can achieve our potential as Penn State but we need financial cooperation from the state legislature." administrators can see, the population in the residence hall will be comprised of 80% honor students and 20% not in the honors program. The five story building will have a third floor entrance and it will have an elevator for the students to get from floor to floor. It will be built in the woods directly behind the suites "We desprerately need more housing. " -Ed Molfinger ian Vol XLIV, No. 7 Students, faculty, and staff had the opportunity to share concerns with Spanier during his visit Wednesday. At the faculty and staff meeting, discussions centered around Behrend's future. Michael Chiteman, head of the Division of Undergraduate Studies, spoke of the "continued growth of the jewel of the Penn State system." Chiteman addressed concerns that many Penn State students are forced to complete their degrees at University Park and some students who whish to begin their undergraduate studies at UP are not allowed. Dr. Spanier responded, "We need to get things to match up better." "There is a mismatch when some students can't start at UP when they want to and some students must finish at UP when they'd rather not," Dr. Spanier continued. "It's not consumer friendly, sending students where they don't want to go.” Currently about 60 percent of Penn State graduates start at campuses other than UP. While there is not as much forced movement at Behrend, many majors must be completed at UP. The creation of multi-campus clusters would allow more students to complete their undergraduate studies at campus see SPANIER page 3 and the S-lot will be extended to accommodate parking. Though the architects' plans are not yet complete, from what they can see, the residence hall will be built in wings. Each floor will contain two wings and each wing will be able to accommodate 16 people. Because there will be a bathroom for every four people, "The new housing will have the greatest flexibility in terms of being coed," claimed Miller. Behrend's administrators are attempting to adapt to the school's needs as they arise. As Behrend's population continues to grow, more housing will continue to be built Concerning the issue, John Ream, Director of Operations said, "We anticipate to build more housing to meet the demand."
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