During finals and midterm weeks, stress levels among students reach their peak and study spaces dwindle. Marquette Student Government is looking at ways to hinder the issue.
The MUSG academic committee is compiling a list of the study spaces available on campus. Members plan to do walk-throughs of different buildings on campus, assessing how they can best be utilized for studying.
Once done, they will make the list available on MUSG’s website. It will include each location and its hours of availability. Eventually, the seat capacity might be included as well.
Jeremy Cluth, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, works as an undergraduate assistant at Raynor Library said he notices an influx of people during exam week.
“Even Memorial (library) fills up too,” Cluth said. “There is definitely a shortage of space during exam week.”
Danielle Mellin, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, said exam weeks are stressful enough without the hassle of finding a place to study.
“Finals are a really busy time, and I often like to study in between my exams, but it’s hard to find space during the day,” Mellin said. “I think this list will be very useful to students.”
Cecilia Anderson, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration said she likes to study at the bridge in the Raynor Memorial Library, but it often becomes too crowded during exam week. She said when this happens, she usually goes to work in other academic buildings on campus like Cudahy or the law school library.
Academic senator and junior in the College of Health Sciences, Ricky Krajewski, said he thinks the lists are a good idea and he’s glad to provide students with another resource.
Academic committee chair and a sophomore in the College of Business Administration Adam Kouhel said the goal of the list is to raise student awareness of alternative study spaces on campus.
Kouhel said they will look into policy changes such as extending hours of certain buildings for 24/7 access if students still struggle to find places to study during exam weeks.
“MUSG is the voice of the student body,” Kouhel said. “If the student body has a concern, we want to make sure we want to address that.”
The academic committee wants to utilize all of the available space on campus. They have been looking into providing more access to the College of Business Administration atrium.
It is still a work in progress, but the committee hopes to have a list compiled by midterms.
