The Bellevue College Student Programs can be called the heart of the campus. Without the availability of Student Programs, the school will not be able to conduct activities that keep student motivated in going to campus. The Student Programs, which is located in C212, is planning to undergo a renovation this summer to be able to accommodate more programs and make it more efficient.
Currently, the Student Programs is the office to the Associated Student Government (ASG), El Centro Latino (ECL), Black Student Union (BSU), and others. Some students are not represented by these programs and thus came the initial idea of renovating the Student Programs to be able to represent a larger student body.
Nora Lance, the Assistant Director of Student Programs explained about the positive aspect that this renovation would bring to students. “There will be more programs in the Student Programs area like the International Student Association (ISA), Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the Veterans and Sustainability.”
Lance added that even though programs such as the Veterans and Sustainability have their offices available on campus, their visibility is still very poor. According to Lance, many students are not even aware of the availability of such programs.
As for the International Student Association, Lance hopes that the program will have their space in Student Programs so there will be a representative that is always available for international students to go to.
Along with the renovation of Student Programs, there is also a plan of Peer2Peer program’s office to move to the first floor of C building, C106. “To me, there are pros and cons,” said Sophia Trinh, the departing Associate Student Government Vice President of Diversity and Pluralism. “It’s positive because there are more students at the first floor [of the C building], it will increase Peer2Peer’s visibility, and Peer2Peer could get more students to be involved in their program.”
Trinh added that the negative aspect of Peer2Peer’s plan to move is that they will be separated from all of the other programs. Trinh added that it would be harder for other programs to get in contact with Peer2Peer if programs needed help from them. According to Trinh, it would be best to have some representatives of Peer2Peer in the Student Programs and some down on C106.
For Sarah Fisher, the Program Coordinator of Peer2Peer, the change means creating a new welcome center which is meant to strengthen the connection between the general student community with campus resources and Student Programs. “Peer2Peer is a students helping students program, we conduct events and programs such as the first-three days, ice cream social, and other volunteering events. Moving downstairs will help us connect with student easier while still focusing on our purposes which are community building and supporting student retention.”
The new Peer2Peer office at C106 will be able to host a “floating desk” for programs and clubs to use to reach out to students. Any programs or clubs that will have a big event at the particular time period could use the floating desk to transport themselves easier, saves time and making Student Programs more efficient.
The renovation of Student Programs will not only makes the Student Programs more efficient, it will also benefit a lot of parties. “I think it’s a win-win situation to everybody involved.” said Lance. “BC is the most vibrant community college in Washington State because we have so many active clubs and programs.”