By Mike Clemens '15
Over the last few months, Siena College completed a number of student-centered renovations. These include major changes to several academic buildings and to the Sarazen Student Union. All of the facility upgrades are intended to enhance the overall student experience and to better meet their academic needs.
During the summer break, the Sarazen Student Union received its first major renovation since the building opened in 2001. The College added new spaces for student activity and relaxation. The most prominent feature is Casey’s, a counter-service restaurant and student lounge located in the former campus bookstore. It features a grill area and Fair Trade coffee shop, ample seating, a stage for student performances and a game room. The bookstore has been relocated to the lower level of the SSU to a redesigned and remodeled retail space.
“It’s great that Siena now has a place for students to congregate,” said English major Regina Stracqualursi ’15. “Casey’s is the student center that we didn’t have before and it’s really making a difference on campus.”
The renovated Sarazen Student Union also includes an improved commuter support area, an interfaith prayer room, and new office spaces for student clubs and organizations.
On the second floor of Siena Hall, the College built an entirely new space for its Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity. The Center’s primary goal is to partner students and faculty members in shared scholarship, whether it is research that takes place in a lab or that stems from the social sciences, humanities or business disciplines.
“Mentored, undergraduate research is a type of student activity that is really growing,” said Cheryl Buff ’82, Ph.D., professor of marketing and director of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity. “It is an excellent form of student engagement, and it doesn’t matter what a student’s major is, every student can participate in undergraduate research.”
CURCA facilitates undergraduate research through various avenues. Some students conduct research as part of an independent study, a capstone course, an honors thesis, or through initiatives such as the Siena Summer Scholars Program, which in 2014 funded 58 undergraduate researchers and supported another 30 who were involved with research grants.
“Having a centralized organization for undergraduate research is key not just to the continued success of our students, but also because it allows us to learn from one another,” said Buff.
Down the hall from CURCA are the new offices of the Stack Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Since 2010, the Stack Center has been helping Siena students of all majors to put their innovation into action by developing business plans and encouraging students who have an entrepreneurial drive.
In just a few short years the Stack Center has already launched two student-led businesses, and each year involves more than 300 students in entrepreneurial activity with the goal of cultivating sound business strategies and the drive for success beyond Siena.
The College’s Morrell Science Center is home to the new Stewart’s Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Center, or SAInT Center. The SAInT Center is an advanced interdisciplinary instrumentation laboratory intended to establish Siena College as a leader in undergraduate training in scientific instruments.
“The SAInT Center allows students to have hands-on experience with advanced instrumentation in a way that can dramatically improve their ability to succeed after college,” said SAInT Center Director Kristopher Kolonko Ph.D. “There aren’t too many colleges that have this kind of equipment. That gives our students a huge advantage in what they can learn and what they can achieve.”
Although it is housed in the Morrell Science Center, the SAInT Center is intended to be interdisciplinary.
“There are applications here [at the SAInT Center] for students of all majors. This is not just for science students,” said School of Science Dean Alan Weatherwax Ph.D. “We have instruments in this new facility that can be of use to creative arts majors or history majors; equipment that can allow them to delve more fully into their own research. Our hope is that the SAInT Center helps to establish diverse connections between majors and departments at Siena.”
It’s already making a difference for students by giving them hands-on experience with industry-grade instruments.
“The SAInT Center allows me to specialize my studies and to show the employers that I am ready to enter the workforce,” said environmental science major Laurel Boser ’16. “I feel much more prepared for the future.”
