The Otterbein board of trustees met to discuss the future of the Campus Center as well as plans for the student government to form a food service advisory committee.
After a year of set backs due to COVID-19, the Campus Center is set to move forward with its renovations. An in-depth informational session was held to discuss this and the improvements that will entail. The campus center renovations will begin with the plaza.
Troy Bonte, the executive director for the facilities management and planning, said "What we expect to see on the plaza is a new creation of what is essentially a meeting and event space outside."
During the meeting, it was said that the renovation would be done in four phases with each phase being a standalone project. This means that once a given phase is complete, that renovation for the Campus Center wouldn't need to be completed in a later phase. The plan for the phases will start with improving building access, continuing with dining service enhancements, then student life upgrades, and finally theater renovations. If everything can go according to plan without any major complications, phase one will be complete by 2022 and all phases are scheduled be done by 2025.
Another important subject brought up in the meeting was the possible creation of a food service advisory committee for the student government. Improvement to dining services is something students at Otterbein have wanted for awhile, and while it does receive periodic improvements, this will be creating a branch of student government dedicated to the issue.
During the meeting Elijah McCutcheon, a student trustee on the board, said "There are discussions on creating a food service advisory committee in which we'll meet with food service, have conversations with them, bring up the issues and make sure they are being heard."
Other subjects brought up in the meeting include the fact that 2022 will be the 175th anniversary of Otterbein University and there will be plans for this celebration including inviting past alumni to share their tales of their time at Otterbein.
