Panel examines activity space, campus core
Interim report recommends policy changes, renovations

BY ANDREA M. HAMILTON

When graduate student Eric Allison needed to find meeting space on campus for his church group, a weekly gathering of more than 200 people, it was a real headache. "The process is horrific. You have to visit four offices, and fill out 10 different forms to get one room, and do it over again each quarter," he said, only somewhat facetiously. "It's really a nightmarish process to schedule a room."

Junior Brent Harris spends a lot of time thinking about student activities too, but from a slightly different perspective. He longs for a central place on campus where students could go, whether to participate in groups, see performances -- or even just hang out. "There are lots of fantastic dorms spread out all over, and they are the center of gravity for students," he said. Campus life "is very decentralized -- there's no central core. We really need a space where people will come to."

Junior Brent Harris, on the stairs at Tresidder Union, says the campus lacks a "central core." Harris serves on the Student Activity Space Task Force, which recommends renovating Tresidder, Old Union and Storke publications building. Photo: L.A. Cicero

Vice Provost for Student Affairs Gene Awakuni heard lots of stories like these -- about the scramble to find rehearsal, programming or meeting space -- from virtually every student he talked to when he arrived at Stanford in January 2002. He said a subsequent walking tour around campus to look at space allotted to student activity groups was an eye-opener. "I got a firsthand, up-close look at the woeful condition of some of our student activity space," Awakuni recalled.

There are some 600 student groups and voluntary service organizations on campus, many of which don't have a permanent home. The competition among them for existing space, byzantine scheduling problems and some long-overdue plans for renovations put the space issue high on Awakuni's list of priorities.

In March 2002 he convened the Student Activity Space Task Force. Composed of students, faculty and key administrators, the group met frequently for the next 10 months to put together a master plan on the needs of student organizations. This week the task force released an interim report, which is being forwarded for consideration by Provost John Etchemendy.

"The activities that comprise campus life help to create a dynamic energy that enriches students lives and provides benefit to the entire university community," Awakuni said. "I believe this task force report represents the first step of a rededicated university commitment in this area. By making this commitment, we hope to ensure that Stanford will provide the best possible environment in which student activities can grow and prosper."

Task force recommendations

The task force report recommends:

* A phased-in approach to renovations and improvements in buildings that house student activities. The first phase would include renovations and possible additions to the 1920s-era Old Union, Nitery and Clubhouse, as well as the Storke Student Publications building. A later phase would include renovations to Tresidder Memorial Union, as well as a rethinking of the mix of activities in the union.

* Looking at ways to revitalize the core area around White Plaza and Tresidder through landscaping, design and circulation. As campus architect David Neuman has pointed out, the area around White Plaza -- home to the first post office (on the Nitery site), the now-defunct Stanford Inn and trolley terminus to downtown -- has a long history as the campus' traditional center, in essence its town square. However, its dual personality as campus crossroads and town square can pose a conflict -- particularly for pedestrians dodging bicycles.

* Studying policy issues related to campus space issues, including the use of academic buildings, subsidies for student groups, space sharing and improving the system of scheduling and assigning space.

Under the guiding principle of supporting the needs -- both academic and co-curricular -- of the "whole student," the task force articulated a need for the university to build a better sense of place, or "soul," for the campus community. That includes creating a vibrant core for student activity space at the heart of campus, and linking those spaces to each other as well as to the activities farther out in the residential "neighborhoods" of the dorms and houses.

Thanks to the guiding hand of noted landscape architect Thomas Church, whose work shaped the 8,100-acre campus from the 1940s to the 1970s, White Plaza and its environs became the heart of the campus. In the expanse stretching from the bookstore steps across to Tresidder, and from the "Claw" fountain up a gentle slope to Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Church had aimed to create a central hub and meeting place -- a place for people to gather and hang out.

Likewise, Kennedy Grove, situated in the triangle between Tresidder, the Faculty Club and the former Bowman Alumni House (now the Humanities Center), originally was conceived as the symbolic and literal crossroads of students, faculty and alumni.

Today, however, White Plaza during breaks between classes more closely resembles Grand Central Station at rush hour than a leisurely gathering place. The multi-level terraces and stone walls surrounding the Old Union and Tresidder -- a Church trademark intended to invite sitting -- today can act as barriers impeding the smooth flow of people, Neuman said. White Plaza may be geographically the heart of campus, but it is not yet its soul.

Harris, who served on the task force, borrowed Gertrude Stein's famous line to sum up the plaza area's lack of appeal for students: "There's no there there." By contrast, he said, "the Haas Center [for Public Service] is always buzzing with activity. We need something like that at the center" to draw people in.

"There are 600 [student] groups because they don't talk to each other," Harris said. "If there were some way to bring them together better, there would be more like 200 groups -- but each with lots more members."

The task force has brought together many of the key stakeholders involved with student life and student spaces, including not just the obvious candidates from student affairs and student life, but also representatives from the offices of religious life, capital planning, residential and dining services, the campus architect, athletics, the arts, even the alumni association. From April 2002 to January 2003, the group held monthly and sometimes bi-weekly meetings to develop priorities and articulate themes for future planning.

"It was really a very positive process," said Allison, who served on the task force. "The great thing about the group was that we all tried to put aside our own agendas and work as a group -- take a higher-level view of how things would impact the campus at large."

The big picture

Awakuni said part of the rationale for creating the task force was to get an all-inclusive, big-picture assessment of what was needed. While he was convinced of the need to renovate existing space and, where possible, provide more space to meet student demand, Awakuni said he was being asked to consider projects like the renovation of the Old Union without having a sense of the total space available across campus. The task force was charged with taking a comprehensive survey of all space and diverse student needs and coming up with a set of criteria to establish a student activity space master plan.

"This would give us a roadmap that could guide student space planning for the next decade," Awakuni said.

The task force deliberated about what kinds of activities most needed to be centrally located, which could be nearby without being in the center and which could be housed in the residential neighborhoods. At the same time, the group had to bear in mind the strict limitations the General Use Permit imposes on construction of any new buildings on campus as well as the university's financial constraints.

Some of the projects identified by the task force were already on the administration's radar screen. The capital plan had for several years included renovation of the Old Union and Tresidder, and replacement or renovation of Storke, as well as a new graduate student community center and additional student activity space. The proposal for the graduate center recently was shifted into the Student Affairs capital plan, to be funded by gifts.

Last month, the administration approved an increase in space for the Black Community Services Center (BCSC) that allotted it an additional 2,500 square feet, which will nearly triple the size of the center's current home. The addition, estimated to cost approximately $1 million, will be added between the existing building and adjacent Harmony House, although there are no concrete design plans yet. Etchemendy said the Office of Development will help the BCSC in putting together a fundraising plan.

In some cases there are relatively simple, low-cost solutions to finding homes for student groups. In the Old Union, for instance, space is being reallocated by relocating some administrative offices out of the complex to make way for student activities. Much of the third floor of the Nitery was freed up for meeting space when a subset of Information Technology Systems and Services moved out last fall. "A lot of things depend on money, but it's not all budget dependent," said associate provost and task force member Stephanie Kalfayan. "Other things can be dealt with in other ways, or with a small amount of money."

Subject to the provost's specific recommendations after reviewing the report, the next step calls for more extensive consultation with students and others. Staff from the departments of Capital Planning and Project Management and Student Affairs will continue discussions with the community centers, the Office of Religious Life, student publications and the Student Services Task Force, among others. They also will convene focus groups and conduct more formal program analysis to help refine priorities.

Awakuni emphasized the task force is still very much a "work in progress," subject to input by students and others, as planning continues.

"This effort speaks well of the commitment of students, faculty, staff and administrators, working with the campus architect and capital planning offices, to meld the interests of so many stakeholders and come up with a master plan for student space that will serve the university and students well for years to come," Awakuni said.

The task force will continue to meet at least through this academic year to serve as a sounding board and advisory group for the next phases of planning.