More than a year after the move of numerous student organizations and programs into the Bowen-Thompson Student Union, empty spaces on campus are still yielding new possibilities.

The fourth floor of Moseley Hall, which remains vacant after the departure of the First Year Experience program, is one spot on campus that has potential.

“There are a number of operations, particularly that are presently housed in that area, that would like to move into that space,” Bob Waddle, assistant vice president of capital planning, said. “What we’re really trying to do is sort out their needs before we assign space.”

Many needs are already being met through the opening of space.

Seeking the creation of a five year accredited master’s program for architectural students, the College of Technology has been utilizing space on the first floor of the Saddlemire Student Services Building since the beginning of fall semester.

“In order to get accredited, we needed to show that we were dedicating more space to the architectural design program,” Barry Piersol, assistant to the dean and director of cooperative education in the College of Technology, said. “With this additional square footage we were able to meet and exceed what they were looking for.”

Previously housed in the Technology Building or the Technology Annex on Poe Road, laboratories for architectural students in Saddlemire are a plus.

“It’s been a tremendous addition to many in this program that were really strapped for space,” Piersol said. “The architectural students are in seventh heaven. They really have their own space.”

Despite numerous other facilities and resources available for students within this space, one aspect is of particular appeal.

“The Large Format Digital Imaging Laboratory services many parts of campus, especially the art students,” Piersol said. “The location is just superb as opposed to what it was like prior to that where the art students had to come over to our main building.”

However, sometimes simply moving equipment isn’t enough. “We’re about to start doing some renovations in order to accommodate the Residential Computing Center and we’re going to be moving that over to Saddlemire,” Waddle said. “They’re spread out in a few residential halls and we’d really like to consolidate their operation.”

Unlike before, student organizations are also consolidating with the use of offices in the Union.

“When I came to Bowling Green in 1994, none of the student organizations had offices,” Edward Whipple, vice president for student affairs, said. “There was only one student organization in the Union, and that was UAO. There was no opportunity for student organizations to develop relationships.”

According to Whipple, this is no longer a problem thanks to the student office space on the fourth floor.

“The potential is wonderful, not only from a communication standpoint, but the opportunity for students to get to know each other and student organizations to relate,” he said. “There’s a cinergy, there’s a positive force that comes together when people like each other and they understand what each other is doing.” Student organization leaders agree.

“There’s definitely a positive vibe,” Jeanette Beal, Vision treasurer and outreach chair, said. “I think that with so much going on and having all the different organizations up here, there is more of that community atmosphere.”

According to Shelley Clagg, president of Graduate Student Senate (GSS), communication between groups is an improvement that comes along with such close proximity.

“Before we were on the seventh floor of the Administration Building and we were separate from everyone else. We didn’t get to communicate with other student organizations like we would have liked to do,” she said. “Now we are right near them and able to communicate more. USG (Undergraduate Student Government) and GSS have been able to work together so much easier and in a more timely manner.”

Simply being in the Union also allows organization leaders to develop closer relationships with their members.

“I think it’s a lot better because it’s more centralized,” Ryan Czech, Resident Student Association (RSA) national communications coordinator, said. “It’s easy access to everyone, not only our executive board, but also the general RSA students can come up and meet us during our office hours.”

According to Whipple, better relationships can lead to a better University.

“When you have major student groups up there they can also help us deal with University problems and issues because you’ve got a collective group of students who are committed to the University,” he said. “I think that culture will really evolve up on that fourth floor of the Union.”