Aaron Berkowitz – General Assignment Reporter
Dr. Mary A. Papazian, the president of Southern Connecticut State University, said all of the changes that are being made to the campus are to benefit the students.
“We are in a transitional phase for the institution,” said Papazian. “We are trying to imagine what Southern should be like in 2025.”
Papazian made a speech about the state of the university on Sept. 18 and said she hopes all of the physical changes that are being made to Southern’s campus will positively affect students’ learning experience. According to Papazian, students’ methods of learning are changing rapidly so the advancements or construction projects on campus are needed to create an active, lively, academic, and creative environment.
“The physical space on campus will look different and it will tell people we are really moving into the twenty-first century,” said Papazian.
Students don’t have to worry about tuition being raised even more to pay for all of the construction that has been taking place on campus, said Papazian.
“The money that is spent there [on construction] is state bond money,” said Papazian. “It’s budgeted separately from the state versus the operational budget, which comes from state appropriations and student tuition/fees.”
Papazian said she understands students’ concerns about having to pay for tuition, but the economically challenging times we face call for construction and changes. According to Papazian, the spending creates jobs and is an investment in the school’s future.
“We have 300 construction workers working on campus,” said Papazian. “That’s real jobs and has consequences. There’s no conflict there at all because it’s not the student’s tuition money that goes into the construction.”
Papazian said she is really excited for the renovation to the Buley Library because of the cyber café and art gallery that are to be added to the first floor. She also said that she thinks students will utilize the new space as a way to keep students engaged and working collaboratively.
Aside from the construction that can be seen around campus, this year Southern has also added new staff members to the list of changes made.
“The people we hired come from all over,” said Papazian. “They bring tons of experience and are committed to our mission at SCSU. We have people [the staff] who really want to build something here and the people who are going to benefit from it are the students. Your Southern degree will have more value over time because of the work that’s going to be done. It’s that commitment to excellence.”
Two new pilot projects are in the works as well, one will focus on joining students and professors to try to solve everyday problems over the summer, said Papazian. She said that the other project is a two week institute over the summer that will try and prepare students for a professional business experience.
Although the change may not be as noticeable to students who are unaware of the issue, but this semester is going green in order to save money and resources/our environment.
“We are working hard to assure that our energy usage, the use of solar light, and our recycling of water are all sensitive to the environment as we can be,” said Papazian.
With times for students getting tougher, Papazian said that the enrollment rate is down right now but she is confident that the numbers will pick back up in a few years.
“We just need to keep making sure that the students who are here are put in a position to succeed and get the best experience they can get,” said Papazian.
