Engineering students given exclusive study space

By Fabian Mayer, February 5 2015 —

Two rooms in the hallway connecting Science B and Earth Sciences are now designated for engineering students on weekdays to house engineering class tutorials. The rooms were renovated last week and received new chairs and tables, as well as a glass wall separating them from the hallway.

The faculty of science handed the space over because construction in the engineering building left limited space for engineering students. Construction will last 12–18 months.

Some science students, including Environmental Science Student Association vice-president academic Jordan Zukowski, are disappointed the space was taken away. She said students had no idea what was going on when the space was pulled.

“People were saying, ‘oh that’s such a great idea creating more privacy in the space, creating a quieter study area and improving it.’ Then the next day signs went up and they said it’s now for the use of engineering study groups,” Zukowski said.

Vice-president academic of the Engineering Students’ Society Jaimie Sokalski said students were not involved in making the decision to hold tutorials in the space.

“It was a faculty-made decision due to the renovations going on in engineering,” Sokalski said.

But Students’ Union science representative Keean Bexte is worried that science students think engineering students are being prioritized.

“All students deserve an equal opportunity to have study space, and the optics of it definitely look like engineering students were favoured,” Bexte said.

Bexte was also concerned about the lack of communication from the faculty.

“The constituents that came to me were consistent users of the space and they had no idea. It could have been communicated to students better, that’s for sure,” he said.

Bexte was originally encouraged by the upgrades made to the space until he realized the upgrades were made to accommodate engineering students.