Oct 13, 2017 | News |
By Elina Shapiro – Contributing Writer
UMF’s Technology Commons is being renovated to be more student and faculty friendly; it will now have more office space for staff in the Global Education and internship departments, added classrooms/co-labs and a lounge for students to study and collaborate with each other.
This project is being done in two halves. “We started the construction late spring/early summer, and because of money involved, we’re kind of ‘phasing it.’ So right now we’re going to do the first phase which is the right hand side of the hallway,” said Laurie Gardner, the chief business officer at UMF.
The right hand side, which will include the lounge as well as co-lab space and some offices, should be done within the next month. “Knock on wood, I am hoping, depending on furniture, we should probably see that open mid to late October,” said Gardner.
Because the left side includes finding a place for the computer lab, that part will take longer to start. “I would love to get that done soon, but we have to re-locate a classroom first. That’s going to take some time to do,” said Gardner. “Worst case scenario, we’re looking at this time next year for it to be open 100%. Best case, we’ll be able to do it quicker.”
The tech commons has been a popular spot on campus for students to do homework and print. “I have been there [to work] on assignments, I’ve gone there for classes, and I’ve gone there just to print out assignments for other classes, so it’s a pretty universal, ‘one stop shop’,” said Bryan Eldridge, a junior Elementary Education major. “I think that it’s a great spot for both students and faculty and I think [the Tech Commons] is very heavily used by everyone on campus.”
Many students utilized the Tech Commons when other places weren’t conducive to studying. “I am wondering when it’s going to be all done,” said Kelsey Dunn, a senior Early Childhood Education major. “It was a place I’d get the majority of my homework done. Having Tech Commons open is a good backup for when the study room [in the residence hall] is occupied and the library is closed.”
The goal of renovating the Technology Commons is to make it a space where all of campus can mingle. The renovations will include the addition of a lounge, more classrooms/co-labs, offices for student advancement as well as offices for global studies.
“[We are] making it a space where students can come and work together and create opportunities for themselves” said Laurie Gardner, the chief business officer at UMF. “We’re going to develop, what I think, will be an exciting area.”
Oct 13, 2017 | Opinion |
By Kelsey Dunn – Contributing Writer
The time has come when UMF students experience stress due to crunched and overlapped deadlines, mountains of homework and hours that seem to just zoom past. Stress can be overwhelming at times and make us want to just scream and give up, but we can’t. Are there ways to relieve stress?
Some UMF students have reported their ways to relieve their stress. Benjamin Cloutier, a junior at UMF, has to juggle his academics with his two jobs.
“I am usually stressed roughly six days a week. Saturdays are what I like to call my stress day off” said Cloutier. “When I become stressed, I go outside and try to take my mind off things.”
Like Cloutier, Elina Shapiro, a UMF senior, also enjoys being outside. Shapiro has a lot on her plate this year between her internship, planning for life after graduation, academics and a social life.
“I play the banjo for an instant stress relief. I also exercise and watch comedy shows” said Shapiro.
Dr. Natasha Lekes, an Associate Professor of Psychology, revealed that “students coming to college should expect to experience stress.” Dr. Lekes noticed that many students at UMF work long hours in addition to maintaining a full-time course load. Due to all the responsibilities that students have to endure, it is natural for them to feel overwhelmed. Dr. Lekes noted that many people turn to exercise, meditation, laughing or playing when stressed. She also said that students should seek help when needed.
“Students often wait to seek help and yet there are many people willing and wanting to provide it at UMF, [such as] advisors, mental health counselors, professors and career counselors,” said Dr. Lekes.
Tessa Walsh, a junior at UMF, experiences social anxiety, which along with her schoolwork, triggers her stress. “I get stressed roughly four to five days a week. When I do get stressed, I listen to music, watch TV or I simply switch to a new activity to get my mind off things” said Walsh.
Students are not the only ones who experience stress on campus. “We need stress in our lives!” said Dr. Lekes, who also experiences stress in her daily life.
“You will likely find that the things that make your life worth living also cause you stress,” Dr. Lekes explained. “For me, that’s being a parent, a professor, a wife, a friend. Yet, I wouldn’t want to change my work or family life. Students may find that their relationships, their area of study, their work and being involved in sports brings meaning to their lives, and yet these activities likely also bring stress into their lives,” said Dr. Lekes.
To view UMF’s counseling page go to the following link: http://www2.umf.maine.edu/counseling/
Sep 24, 2017 | News |
Collin Regan – Contributing Writer
Recent college graduate and new hall director Dan Knox is looking forward to adding a new perspective to the Farmington community.
Knox is the new hall director that oversees the residence halls Lockwood, Dakin, and Stone. While he may be new to the Farmington community, Knox comes with a variety of experiences.
Fresh out of Ripon College with a dual degree in Business Administration and Politics in Government, Knox comes with three years of experience in residence life.
During his freshman year, Knox was a resident. His sophomore year, he was an RA, and during his junior year, he was a Programming Assistant where he essentially interacted with the whole campus. During his senior year, Knox was a Student Assistant Hall Director.
While all of these jobs involved working with residents, the responsibilities became greater as the years went on. These responsibilities did not seem to bother Knox. “I like interacting with residents, but I think I’m better at administrative work than most people,” he said.
Kathleen Simpson, a UMF Hall Director in her second year, was part of a team that hired Knox. “We were looking for somebody who added diversity to what we already had, knowing that our staff was going to be similar to what we had last year,” Simpson said.
The team saw that Dan would add that type of diversity to the staff, because of his experiences. “We saw his yearly growth as something that proved he wanted his own self-growth and the fact that his school thought he was good enough for this position was evident and good to see,” said Simpson.
Knox and Simpson both understand the importance of their jobs. Simpson points out that a
hall director “is responsible for thousands of lives on campus.” Knox describes the job as, “making sure residents are figuring out life and doing it in a safe and responsible manner.”
Knox is already helping impact the community through overseeing the Community Assistants (CA) in Lockwood, Dakin, and Stone. Sage van Eekhout, a third-year student and second-year CA in Stone Hall, has enjoyed working with Knox so far this year. “I think Dan brings in a really good and new perspective, being recently graduated and being in a Student Life Department while bringing some of his ideas into our staff,” said Eekhout.
First-year CA in Stone Hall Kendra Burgess has enjoyed getting into a new job, as Knox is settling into being a new hall director as well. “We’re both getting used to new positions but the communication has been great,” says Burgess.
Both Burgess and Eekhout agree that Knox has done a great job creating community within the staff. “I think he’s really great at positive reinforcement and making our staff feel so close. He gives out gold stars to people at every staff meeting from shout-outs we give,” said Eekhout.
As the year goes on, Knox is looking forward to this experience and the personal growth that will come with it. While he has small goals of visiting more places throughout Maine, Knox also has some career goals. “I want to figure out more of my styles in leadership and supervision,” he said.
Sep 24, 2017 | News |
Devin Lachapelle – Contributing Writer
With the fall semester now underway at UMF, returning upperclassmen are eager to see new students get involved with some of the many clubs on campus.
Kelsey Rohman, a junior with a psychology major and a minor in rehabilitation services, said, “We’re all friendly here,” and that “the goal of clubs is to not exclude people [but] to welcome people.”
Rohman, who is the treasurer of Alpha Lambda Delta and the Tennis Club, stressed that “Building connections with students is a must.”
Rohman mentioned that it’s a good idea to try out a few different clubs. “Sign up for a few clubs you’re interested in, get emails, test the waters by going to a few meetings to see what suits your fancy,” she said.
Brennah O’Connell, a senior Biology major, has been involved with clubs since her first semester at UMF and is part of both the Tennis Club and Active Minds.
O’Connell, also in her third year as a Community Assistant (CA), said, “especially for [students] that are new to campus, they might not know about all of the options available to them.” She added that “it’s important to let them know about how many different clubs there are or that they can make a new one. Students have a better college retention rate if they get involved.”
Sep 23, 2017 | News |
Elina Shapiro – Contributing Writer
The IT department at UMF plugged along this summer to upgrade the Wi-Fi in the library and several residence halls.
Students at UMF have been pleased with the improved Wi-Fi in the residence halls. “The new Wi-Fi improvements have definitely been a big improvement here in Stone because last year almost every 10 minutes I’d be kicked off from my computer and not be able to do homework,” Amber Chesley, a UMF Sophomore, and Stone Community Assistant said.
The Wi-Fi now works faster and allows buildings full of students to be able to be online at the same time without trouble.
“We’d always complain about it, ‘Oh, there’s someone else on it, oh there’s this horrible Wi-Fi’. This year it’s so much more efficient,” said Chesley. “There has been a significant decrease in complaints about the Wi-Fi here.”
Kelsey Dunn, a senior, said: “With the new renovations, I am finding speed is quicker, so it’s great that I don’t have to worry about the Wi-Fi shutting down and not starting back up.” Dunn mentioned that registration last year was an issue for some people, so she is hopeful that this year will run more smoothly.
Angel Allen, who works for the University of Maine system as a program manager, said that it was widely known that there were problems with the Wi-Fi.
“In 2015, there was a report written that did an assessment of technology needs throughout the University of Maine System. One of the of the needs that were clearly identified was better internet access, specifically better Wi-Fi access for students,” said Allen.
Residence Life does a student survey every year, and in last year’s survey of students there were a lot of comments about Wi-Fi in a bad way, Allen said. “We’re really hopeful that this year’s survey will show improvement.”
Though IT made progress this summer, there is still more work to do.
“The tentative plans are to do the same upgrade for the Scott residence halls next summer,” said Allen. “We didn’t have the capacity to do it all. We were also doing a lot of upgrades on other campuses throughout the summer.”
Allen hopes to extend these renovations across campus. “I think that the classroom buildings on campus all could certainly use the same sort of upgrades. Those are things that if at any point we come into more funding and have that funding – we’d really like to see every building on campus have that kind of internet wireless access,” said Allen. “There were places in the buildings that didn’t have any Wi-Fi coverage. Every nook and cranny in those buildings should have good coverage.”
There were some challenges while completing these Wi-Fi renovations during the summer because the campus was not empty. “We were coordinating around re-waxing the floors, and painting the rooms, and doing other things in the buildings that needed to be done and we didn’t want to get in their way,” said Allen. However, Allen thought everyone worked really well together to let everything go smoothly. “I would say that the residence life, conferences, and facilities management were great partners in this work with IT.”
