Student Groups Can Now Apply For Office and Storage Space in Hilles

The portal is now open for student groups interested in applying for office and storage space in the newly renovated Hilles building this fall.

The application, made accessible online last night at www.fas.harvard.edu/~hillctr, must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Feb. 25 for consideration.

The subcommittee of the Committee of College Life, headed by Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin, plans to review all requests. Future applications for office and storage space will be reviewed on an annual basis, leaving the potential open for groups to lose offices from year to year.

The renovated space, which spans 40,000 square feet, will include up to 68 dedicated group offices, multiple conference rooms, and shared open space on the first and second floors.

The six-page application contains questions assessing the purpose of the student group and its contributions to the college community. Groups applying must also describe their major events and provide supplemental information concerning their annual budget and grants.

Applicants must also detail why the organization needs an office as well as how and when it will use the space if granted. Questions regarding privacy constraints are also included to assess individual group needs.

A Student Organization Space Allocation Committee, composed of staff and students, will be assembled in spring 2007 to assume the subcommittee’s role of assigning office and storage space.

After Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 approves recommendations made by the subcommittee, groups will be notified of the final decision by April 15. Selected student groups will be able to occupy their new offices starting Sept. 1.

The application was designed based on input from student organization representatives after the subcommittee held a campus-wide meeting on Jan. 12.

During the meeting, subcommittee members divided group representatives into small workshops to collect feedback about the space allocation process.

The subcommittee will convene again next Friday to organize the process by which the applications will be reviewed, subcommittee member Kaya N. Williams ’07 said.