Student Welcome Centre Expected to Open May 11th

“The Student Welcome Centre is meant to be the point of first contact for students.”

Caper Times spoke with Lenore Parsley, Communications Manager for CBU, about the renovations underway in the Great Hall. She explains that this project arose from feedback during the strategic planning sessions last year. “A lot of the information that we heard from students is that they don’t always know what’s happening on campus, and we really want to help with that, because there are often a lot of things happening on campus.”

“We want to create a hub where people will be able to go to get information, but it’s also a multi-audience centre.”

Parsley emphasized the Great Hall’s importance as a meeting place and their wish to build upon that. “We often tell people to meet us in the Great Hall, so its really became a point-of-entry for the community. So to have the Welcome Centre located there is a way to make things more approachable—because coming to campus can be intimidating for some people.”

The centre will cater to prospective students, new students and even community members as a “one-stop-shop” where people can find the help they need. This includes connecting to resources, making appointments and learning about events on campus.

The staffing of the centre is to be determined, but Parsley says there will likely be someone working out of the centre. Someone that can be “… the face of the Welcome Centre, so there is that first point of contact.”

CBU is still working through the design process, so they couldn’t provide many details on the layout of the centre. “The idea is that it’s a community hub place where they can get information and talk to each other. So yeah, [there will be] couches and tables and tablets for information.” Parsley says.

“We are hoping to have it open for convocation. So that is May 11th.”

“It’s a tight deadline, but that’s not to say it will be completely finished at that time in terms of décor and other areas like that.”

For people concerned about the Art Gallery next door, Parsley says it shouldn’t be affected too much once renovations are complete.