"Where do we fit in?" Campus space tops priority list

Srinivas Sripada spends about 99 percent of his time in the Engineering buildings on Smith Walk -- working toward his doctorate in Mechanical Engineering. He said he's been extremely happy with the resources and opportunities provided by both his department and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. But when Sripada has tried to take part in University-wide graduate student activities to meet other graduate and professional students, he finds his options are limited. Currently, there is no central, on-campus location representing graduate students. Some students have questioned how graduate student s can feel a sense of identity within the University when faced with this lack of resources. The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly has been working for the establishment of this type of space on campus, possibly in the form of a graduate student cafe, for several years. "I think that having a place like that would encourage more interaction between all the grad students," Sripada said. Many graduate and professional students said they are interested in moving beyond their individual programs to meet students who are in different schools but at similar stages in their lives. Although Medical School Student Government President Brian Sperber said he feels his school "carve[s] out a niche" for its students, he added that Medical students "sometimes feel trapped" since they always interact with the same 150 people. Sperber, a second-year Medical student and fourth-year Biomedical doctoral student, added that while many graduate students have already moved on to marriage and parenthood, "a lot of those students are still in that social mode." GAPSA provides an opportunity for some interaction through its bi-monthly happy hours. GAPSA Social Chairperson Heidi Tarshis said these gatherings are designed specifically for graduate students to meet their counterparts in other schools. The second-year Dental student added that the response to the happy hours has increased significantly over the last year, from roughly 300 attendees last September to the approximately 900 students who came to this semester's first happy hour at Cavanaugh's Restaurant. But Sripada said he finds the happy hours limiting. He looks to the proposed cafe as a place where graduate students can "drop in and out? [and] meet and discuss issues." Philosophy doctoral student and GAPSA'S Cafe Committee Co-Chairperson Dan Reynolds said the site would allow students to form a community and bring their "narrow disciplines to the [University's] broader intellectual world." Sripada said the situation presents a catch-22: If graduate students had a central space, they could more easily discuss issues like the development of a cafe. In September, the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life gave GAPSA a lounge space in the graduate towers as a temporary solution to the problem. University President Judith Rodin said plans for a long-term space will have to wait until larger decisions regarding University facilities are finalized. "It's not wise to invest large sums of money when you just have to reprogram in a few years," Rodin said. The University has employed consulting firm Biddison Hier to oversee a residences and facilities review to be released later this semester.

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