Student groups on campus have a new place to call home.
The Campus Organizations Resource Center, more commonly known as the C.O.R.C. Room, opened its doors with 20 dedicated spaces for student clubs and nine roving stations for anyone to use.
“This is perfect for us,” said Howard Pang, president of the Hong Kong Student Alliance, one of the groups with a cubicle. “We have a place to meet, and a place to store our stuff, which is just great.”
The room features storage cabinets for the clubs with set space as well as an additional eight cabinets for clubs that need a place to stash their stuff.
“It frees up people’s bedroom closets, and many of the clubs that applied just wanted storage space,” said Sheri Young, Union administrative assistant.
Some storage space is still available for interested clubs, she said.
While the 20 cubicles are not yet equipped with computers, the room already has eight computers and a printer, and the remaining machines should soon come from the Crimson Underground’s Cyber Cafe.
The cafe will donate its old computers when it replaces them in the upcoming weeks, according to Ryck Luthi, associate director of the Union.
“The great thing is that we’re getting many of our computers for free,” Luthi said.
The Associated Students of the University of Utah donated $50,000 for the project, and the Union used its own funds to complete the $120,000 project.
Nathan Stock, coordinator for the U’s Amnesty International chapter, says he enjoys the space.
“We’ve needed a place to meet for a long time, and space for materials. I’m really pleased,” he said.
Stock says he also likes the emphasis on clubs coordinating with one another.
“It’s a lot easier to figure out what other clubs are doing when all you have to do is lean over and ask,” he said.
The room is also equipped with a large bulletin board and white board in hopes of increasing communication among student clubs.
Luthi says he hopes the room will help clubs recruit more members.
“When a student interested in a particular club can go to a specific place to get more information, it should make it easier for clubs to add new members,” he said.
Pang is anticipating the same thing.
“We want to use this space to help bring more students into our group, for sure,” he said.
While each station has its own computer equipped with word processing, e-mail and Internet capabilities, there are no individual phones.
But, those students who are trying to find members of a club can call the main line at 581 7469, and ask for those members, Young said.
Luthi anticipates it will make students feel more at home in the Union.
“Particularly for a commuter campus, more students now have a place to go between classes,” Luthi said. “This is just the next phase the Union is implementing. We started with bulletin boards for groups in the northeast hall on the second floor, and now we have this.”
The office is open for any student who needs a computer, as one bank of machines are open to public use.
A Union services staff member is on duty at all times, and the office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Union administrators would like to expand the hours, but that won’t happen for a while.
“This is our new baby, and we’re just going to have to see how it grows, and then adapt to it,” Young said.
Administrators are looking for volunteers to watch over the room beyond those hours, Young said.
For more information, to volunteer or apply for storage space, contact Sheri Young at 581 2048.