Undergraduate Student Government Downtown are looking into partnering with Sun Devil Fitness Complex staff to set up sleeping pods for students as part of a larger renovation pending at the SDFC.
SDFC staff members had considered renovating areas of the building's first and third floors when they connected with USGD to exchange ideas about potential changes.
The sleeping pods would be individual spaces set aside for students to nap on during the day.
Nursing sophomore Erika Pascua, USGD's director of public relations, said creating a space for students to nap during the day could especially benefit students who commute to campus.
“Our president is really passionate about all things wellness,” Pascua said. “She’s really focused on commuter students because she does realize that it’s mostly first-time freshmen or sophomores that are living in Taylor Place.”
Pascua said the topic of sleeping pods came up when USGD members were discussing action plans over the summer and noticed people sleeping on campus, in places like the Student Center at the Post Office.
Pascua said the idea is to create a more private, quiet sleeping area. She said she hopes it will attract more students to the SDFC.
Exercise and wellness senior Pierce Hingson commutes to campus from Gilbert and Tempe and said he supports the idea of sleeping pods because he often naps in the Student Center downtown.
“I think it’s a great idea because a lot of fitness experts recommend having a power nap of about 20 minutes or so,” Hingson said. "It’s good for the mind and good for the body.”
Nursing sophomore Maria De La Luz Cabrera Perez commutes to ASU from west Phoenix and said sleeping on campus is a hassle.
“I don’t live in the dorms and I’m always sleepy and I wish I could fall asleep somewhere,” Perez said. “But you can’t sleep comfortably if you’re thinking, ‘Oh someone’s gonna jack my laptop’ or, ‘Somebody’s looking at me.’”
Chad Ellsworth, director of Sun Devil Fitness Downtown, said the focus will be on gathering student input and prioritizing needs this fall.
“We want to re-task underutilized areas of the SDFC to focus on student health and well-being,” Ellsworth said.
The area under consideration for sleeping pods is an open space on the third floor of the building.
“Our ultimate goal is to help students be successful at ASU,” Ellsworth said. “We believe that by helping students discover and enhance their own health and well-being, we create an environment that optimizes learning.”
USGD leaders work with the Well Devil Coalition, Wellness Ambassadors, SDFC student employees and others to identify priorities for students.
USGD President Corina Tapscott works on receiving student input while Ellsworth will handle the logistics of implementing the pods.
Student advocates gathered a group of approximately 15 students to contribute their ideas for how they’d like the sleeping pods to look.
Tapscott said the group researched what other universities have done, including chairs that play music and enclosed beds. She said the student committee's decision came down to variables such as pod cleanliness and noise levels.
“We’re letting the specifics be decided by the students that are part of our collaboration committee with the SDFC and its possible renovations,” Tapscott said. “It’s all just still in the idea phase.”
After gathering student feedback, Tapscott said architects will consider the ideas and determine how realistic they are, what they would cost and what the timeline would be to implement them.
She said the idea behind the project is to incorporate holistic wellness at the SDFC and promote the idea that sleep is an important part of student success.
Tapscott isn’t sure how the project will be funded yet, but said it wouldn’t come out of the USGD budget. The entirety of the renovation is an SDFC project advised by students.
Other discussed ideas are an improvement of the first-floor zen garden, recruiting local vendors and creating a space for student wellness organizations to meet on the third floor.
If the project is approved, the renovations will not start this year. Tapscott said the group wants to gather as much student feedback as possible before making any changes.
“Every single thing that ASU Downtown does is to improve the daily lives of students,” Tapscott said. “The best way to do it isn’t to sit in a room and go, ‘Well maybe this is what they want,’ but instead just bring them in the room and have them be full-fledged partners in all of the projects that we’re doing.”
Students interested in contributing ideas to USGD should email Corina Tapscott at Corina.Tapscott@asu.edu.
Related Links:
West campus celebrates opening of recreation center
Guide to the news: How Tempe USG works
Reach the reporter at bridget.dowd@asu.edu or follow @bridgetbernice on Twitter.
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