CSU closes in on signing-off on Student Advocacy Centre move
The Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) Student Advocacy Centre is on the brink of finalizing a move that will see it moved from its presently cramped and tucked-away location to the Hall building mezzanine.
The Student Advocacy Centre’s mandate is to aid students and mediate campus complaints and issues like discrimination.
CSU President Ben Prunty said a meeting was arranged last week to approve the project’s price increase. The revised price will now be roughly 10 to 15 per cent higher than the $100,000 originally allotted as the CSU’s portion of expenses. The move was made in concert with the university, with Concordia covering the infrastructure costs and the CSU covering the rest.
The centre has experienced increased activity that has made its current location cramped. Moving it to the mezzanine would not only alleviate the space issues, but give it a more visible and central location. Meanwhile, its old space will be taken over by an expanded Legal Information Clinic, with the financial details of that transfer unknown at the moment.
The CSU also managed to negotiate for an extra $10,000 to be taken on by the university. Prunty said the university was helpful and understanding of these sorts of moves and upgrades.
“HOJO [the Off-Campus Housing and Job Bank] sees way more usage than the advocacy centre, and we’re pretty certain it has to do with location,” said Prunty, adding that he’ll be happy to see the mezzanine return to a completely student-run space with the re-opening of Reggie’s alongside the Hive and HOJO.
“The mezzanine will be once more very student-centric.”
