JHU SGAThe 114th Session
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Feb 3 - SGA Meeting to Discuss Construction Updates

Minutes / Executive · minutes · 112th session · created February 3, 2025 · updated February 3, 2025

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This document is from a previous session and is kept for the record. It may have been amended or replaced since.

SGA Executive Board Advisor Meeting Feb 3, 2025 / 8 am EDT / Teams Virtual Meeting

Present:

Nasreen, Brandon, Rachelle Hernandez Unexcused Absent: Excused Absent: Minutes

  1. Everyone introduced themselves.
  2. First 30 minutes of the meeting will be about the project and SGA will ask questions. Housing & Dining also joined as the first 30 minutes interest them. The other 30 minutes will interest the proposal.
  3. Camille and Emily - Hopkins and Dining Updates
    1. Housing and Dining are the foundation for the lived student experience.
    2. Only goal is not to increase the number of beds.
    4. Making spaces usable and resilient to future needs.
    5. AMR 1 and Dining replacement project aims flexibility, well-being, belonging, sustainability, community, and history.
    7. Already did some outreach work: furniture fair, “touch and feel moments,” design selections.
    10. 200 more beds to the freshman quad
    12. New dining hall bridges student from across the street to those in freshman quad
    15. New AMR 1 will match the symmetry, detailing, proportions, materials, masonry, porches and covered areas around campus.
    17. Still pretty early in design - AMR 1 does not face the Charles Street as it faces the Freshman Quad. Connecting Charles Village’s urban area to community
    19. USS and JHFRE
    20. Buse: What will happen to FFC and AMR 1
      1. Emily: FFC will be offline and there will be a new dining hall. We don’t know what will happen to that space.
      2. Camille: Replaces.
      3. Jennifer: AMR 1 students will stay in McCoy. 2nd years will go to the Academy for that temporary time frame.
    21. Stone: Students in AMR 2 and AMR 3? Construction noise, will they still stay there?
      1. Camille: Students will stay there. Certainly be in constant communication to work through this with Student Affairs to not wake them up at 6 AM. Still trying to resolve these.
    22. Amy: Liked the materiality section of the presentation. Timeline: Dining and AMR 1 start in Spring 2026. Will there be any ongoing projects going on at that time? Also, if construction starts in Spring 2026, does that mean occupants of the Academy would need to leave?
      1. Camille: We will not come into the site until everybody moves out. Reality is toward the end of May. Won’t need to move twice.
      2. Rachel: Need to change that, after commencement. We’ll work with Student Affairs.
      3. Emily: Schedule of MSEL and other construction work on campus. A lot of work around the Beach. Appreciate tolerance. The Student Center will be open by then. Updates will hopefully wrap up by 2027. Library and AMR 1 constructions will overlap. Not perfectly aligned and we’re not overburdening the areas.
      4. Rachel: The answer might seem like we will be surrounded with constructions but the priority is to not leave the students in a situation where they will need to leave midyear. “More construction” might sound burdening.
      5. Emily: Essential pathways will stay open. We will share the logistics plans.
    23. Tim: Coming from the side of student clubs. It’s not just a residential place but also a recreational space. Is there any plans on where the clubs will go if the Student Center does not open on time?
    24. Brittani: HSC will open in August 2025 and this construction will start after commencement in 2026, so there’s quite a bit of time. Even if something came up, we would find a solution during these few months. We will give you cues on when to share these. RAs will have a similar presentation. Embargoed info for now.
    25. Rachel: Wait for a week, we will present to the city to make sure we have collaboration with them. There will be a Hop website. Confidentiality for a few days.
    26. Matt: Hourly staff will learn this week. FFC needs an update.
    27. Brandon: What will be different for dining facility?
      1. Matt: FFC is old, so it’s not designed for the way we eat today. Work flow for staff, production space, storage facility will be bigger. Loading docks will be underground. Better access, inclusive dining spaces, different seatings… Make it a place where students will want to socialize.
      2. Rachelle: What’s behind the decision. We’ve been talking to you about investing in the student experience. Expanding the dining plans. Did not have access for juniors and seniors to have a dining plan. Student Center will open, AMR will open, new dining open… Academy will become a residential hall. What do our students need? Accessible food, timely access to food… We should be able to serve the food effectively. Reason for this is not just upgrading. These are all community activities.
  4. Proposal
    1. Brittani: Robust proposal sent to us prior to the end of fall semester. What we can and can’t do, but with alternatives.
    2. Brittani: Will impact some accessible routes, staff around MSE. If there is a student that needs the accessible route, there will be a person there to stop construction there and they will be escorted.
    3. Brittani: Golf cart shuttles won’t happen, but the Remington shuttle has a new stop, they can go to any of the study places (Imagine Center, MSE Annex) just by hopping on that shuttle. Will follow up with email.
    4. Brittani: Community and group study places. Looking at all options. Will identify spaces on campus
    5. Will not look into study grant for initial purpose
    6. Check this document for the full updates
      1. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aNmwfV76qgdoMu5Z0oXaApylFqp3HuW7m8QF3kJUW6A/edit?usp=sharing
    7. Conversations about parking: Will require a longer conversation
    8. Reason for no parking for students: not a commuter experience, easy to use public transport
    9. Really challenging for some people, so still exploring an exception process for students who need to use personal transportation, part of a larger issue
    10. Happy to join us for another meeting