Students delivered a message at the latest Campus Master Plan open forum: Build more study spaces at the venerable Bronco Student Center and construct additional outdoor seating across the campus.

The input from a parade of students at the two-hour forum held inside the facility on a rainy Nov. 29 will help form the blueprint of possible future enhancements at the BSC, which is a hub for studying and social activities.

Students were asked to place colored dots on maps to show where additional seating and shade structures are needed on campus, their preferred spaces to study and socialize on campus, the amount of time they spend at the BSC on a typical day, and their activities inside the BSC. Participants also prioritized potential improvements for the center.

Student Voices

After forum participants applied their colored dots to the various maps, several shared their viewpoints:

"I work with a lot of software. The outlet per seating ratio on campus is very low. Out of all the places where I study, the Solaris Lounge in the BSC has the highest ratio between outlets to seats, but the issue now is that there isn't enough seats. We need more seating and outlets. Because if there were more places like the Solaris Lounge, where there's a lot of good seating with a lot of outlets, then I would be willing to sit elsewhere. There's a lot of seating at the University Library, but there's not enough outlets to accommodate everyone."

JOHNNY BAUTISTA

Senior majoring in electrical engineering systems

"Building 17 (Engineering Laboratories) and the University Library are where I spend most of my time. The Library is great but it doesn't have enough power outlets and tables, especially when it's midterm season. Everybody is in the library and you're fighting for an outlet. For Building 17, more study spaces are needed for people to do work there rather than going to the computer labs."

SHEHAB SHEHATA

Third-year student majoring in chemical engineering

"Add more seating outside the Bronco Student Center. Covered seating would be nice, but it would also be nice to have some seating in the sun if it's cold. In general, there's not enough seating on campus."

TAYLOR BOOMSMA

Second-year transfer student majoring in journalism

"The BSC needs more room where people can study. There is only one lounge where people study in. We have all these rooms in the BSC that are rented out, but we only have Solaris Lounge, which is kind of small considering how many students go to the BSC. I usually study on the second floor if I can find a seat."

JUSTIN IZUHARA

Third-year student majoring in English

"Bring the indoor space outdoors, spaces where it's not just seating but it's also shaded, a place to plug in your laptop or your phone, to be comfortable, a place where you can sit there and spend time studying. We have a lot of land and we have Southern California weather, so the vast majority of the time you can be outside. If we can take what we normally do indoors and put it in an outdoor space that's more than just a place to sit, that's an indoor space that is outdoors."

BRANDON HERNANDEZ

Fourth-year student majoring in finance, real estate and law

"Diversify the types of study spaces for students. Some students like to study on their own. A lot of people like to socialize in study groups. I think that increasing the diversity of those kinds of spaces would help. It don't think it ever hurts to have more spaces. I know that during U-Hour it's sometimes hard to find spaces at the BSC."

ALONDRA NAVES

Third-year transfer student majoring in biology with microbiology option

"Overall, I think there's enough seating on campus, but it might be centered in the wrong places. There might be a need to reorganize where the seating is. There are a lot of smaller pockets behind the colleges and smaller spaces around campus where there's too much seating and not enough in the larger hubs of the campus, like in front of the BSC or the main Quad."

SEAN KENNEDY

First-year student majoring in architecture

"The Bronco Student Center needs more shading outside because I know sometimes inside the BSC it is crowded and there's limited seating. Outside there's a little bit more seating but shade would be helpful, especially when it's hot outside. You don't see a lot of shade outside."

MICHELLE QUINTERO

Third-year student majoring in communications with an emphasis in journalism

Next Step

Ayers Saint Gross, the consultant firm for the next Campus Master Plan, will incorporate comments collected at the forum into the upcoming draft Campus Master Plan that will be submitted for administrative approval next year.

In addition to study areas, the BSC also features a games room, a food court, a box office, a multipurpose space and additional meeting rooms.

When the next master plan is adopted, Cal Poly Pomona's Department of Facilities Planning & Management will be tasked to carry out the objectives that involve the campus infrastructure.