University of Manitoba students will soon have a new 24/7 study space.
The new study space will be on the second floor of University Centre in rooms 220 and 224, which will be operated jointly by Conference & Catering Services and the Ancillary Services departments.
Dean Duff, manager of Conference & Catering Services at the U of M, believes that it is a great idea to provide students with a new place to study.
“It is good for students, especially those who live on campus will now have more space to study,” said Duff.
Duff said that the space will be available to students to study when the rooms are not booked for any events.
“When the event is over and the rooms are free, the caretaking crew will reset it with tables and chairs for students to study,” said Duff.
Duff said a schedule will be posted outside of room 220 so that students know when the space is available to study.
When asked about the new space’s capacity, Duff answered that Conference & Catering will likely organized the space so that there will be around 100 to 130 spaces available for students to study.
University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) has been trying to get more study spaces for students over the past year. UMSU president Camilla Tapp said that having the new space for students to study is viable and that it would be a great opportunity for students.
“If you look now, UC is a busy place and has lack of space for students to study.”
Vanjul Sharma, an engineering student, said that the new study space is “advantageous as the place is quite big so more students can engage and learn.”
Simon Matthews, a student in the International College of Manitoba (ICM), said he was glad students would have a new study room in University Centre but is concerned that the opening of The Hub, the new UMSU owned pub, might disturb students.
“The new space should be quite enough for students so that they could focus on studying,” he said
Akpan Manna, a faculty of science student, said it’s good that the university is trying to get spaces for students to study but the purpose for which it is intended might not be achieved.
“The school already has enough study spaces; the new space will be crowded most of the times and students will just use it as a place to hang out instead of studying,” said Manna.
Shuiab Tahir, a faculty of agriculture student, commented that a lot of students prefer to study on campus. However, he said, there is usually not enough space on campus as most of the libraries become full and students end up wasting their valuable time trying to find a place to sit down and study.
