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The California State University, Stanislaus Student Union is seeking to renovate and expand the current University Student Union building through a referendum by the student body on March 29th and 30th.
"We are maxed out on what we can do," Bryce Dias, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Student Union said in regards to The University Student Union's ability to meet the needs of students.
The project, if approved, would cost approximately $27 million and take up to four years to complete. It would dramatically renovate the existing University Student Union building while adding an additional 22,235 square feet bringing the total to 52,545 square feet.
Additionally, approval of the referendum would result in increased student fees beginning Fall 2010. Currently, students pay $140 in fees annually for The University Student Union, and beginning in the 2010/11 Academic Calendar fees would increase to $190 annually while peaking at $440 annually for the 2014/15 Academic Calendar.
Proponents of the referendum say the expansion would offer new opportunities for the campus community by making The University Student Union the focal point of the campus by achieving various objectives including: developing a more vibrant campus life, encourage social interactions and foster co-curricular learning experiences, and by providing a wide variety of programs, goods and services for students, faculty, staff and guests of the campus. Also, the project would correct seismic issues and bring existing building codes up to standard. Moreover, The University Student Union is seeking to distribute some of the increased fees towards improving services and adding programs to the Stockton campus.
The plan to improve The University Student Union building passed its biggest procedural hurdle on February 17th when the Student Fee Advisory Committee (SFAC), a committee which advises fees to the university president and is composed of students from Associated Students, Incorporated and the University Student Union, as well as university staff and instructors, overwhelmingly voted in favor of it.
However, at the meeting questions were raised on whether students would be willing to foot the bill on yet another fee increase for a project that would take approximately four years to complete, and one in which most current students will not be around to experience.
"(The project) builds the opportunity for students that will follow and leaves a legacy (for current students)," Bryron Kamp, Executive Director of ASI and USU said at the SFAC meeting and commented that the project would bring enormous prestige to CSU Stanislaus.
As ASI President Diana Heredia noted, "It puts us on the map."
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