Before the Polytechnic campus breaks ground with a new freshman residential hall and dining facility in June, student leaders are asking for student input.
Polytechnic student government president Dominick Hernandez is leading the cause on the campus to convince as many students as possible to fill out a survey about what they want in the new facilities.
“Student input is basically what is going to determine the needs of what the students want,” Hernandez said. “What the students want is what’s going to drive the population and prosperity of ASU and the campus as a whole.”
Hernandez, a business administration senior, has about 150 completed surveys from students and would like more. He plans to give all of the surveys to the project’s architect by Nov. 15.
The survey was comprised of 12 to 15 questions that asked for students’ opinions on the current facilities on campus and what they’d like in new facilities.
The project, which includes a freshman residential hall and a new dining facility, is scheduled to start construction in June and is estimated to be completed by fall 2012, said Eliza Robinson, University Housing marketing specialist, in an e-mail.
Inland American Communities is the company that has partnered with ASU to fund and build the new facilities. The company is working with RSP Architects and McCarthy Construction throughout the process.
The architects already have a basic idea of what will be built, but are just waiting for student input before the final plans are drawn, Hernandez said.
“They have a rough draft of the model for the [residential] hall and dining facility and a couple of options for different rooms and different things they could do,” he said. “So the student input is going to direct the selection of what type of room configuration.”
Mechanical engineering technology freshman Eric Ferrin lives in the current residential halls on the Polytechnic campus and said they are not in terrible condition, but could use some updates.
“I pretty much like the layout we have, but if they just made it a little more modern, it would help a lot,” he said. “This is an old military base, so the pipes on the inside are exposed, compared to being in the walls and ceilings like they normally are.”
Ferrin completed the survey, suggesting the layout stays similar to the current residential halls.
Civil engineering sophomore Jhonathan Rendon agreed the housing on the campus could use an update, though he didn’t fill out a survey.
“[The dorms] have basically just been refurbished, but there’s still stains on the carpet and some of the holes in the wall have been fixed,” he said.
Both Ferrin and Rendon mentioned that they don’t hate the current dorms, but the new dorms should be constructed without these problems.
Rendon said he’s mostly excited for the new dining facility.
“For the dining part, I would want more variety of food,” he said.
The most important thing, Hernandez said, is that he gets as much student input as possible.
“It’s extremely important that not only ASU Poly students, but every student that comes to the Polytechnic campus, participates in this survey because the facilities that will be offered will be open to all ASU students,” he said.
Reach the reporter at cottens@asu.edu
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