Oak Staff
The 2012-2013 school
year is several weeks into the Fall semester and the numbers are in. There are
now 687 students enrolled at Menlo College, an increase of 7% from a year
ago.
More students means
more challenges. For example, parking has become an issue with more student cars
needing to be accommodated. In order to
do so, the lot behind the library was opened to students. Menlo administrators also worked harder at promoting Zip Car rentals, which helps to cut down the amount of cars on campus.
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| Can you identify these people? If not, scroll down! |
More students also
translated into an increase in demand for on-campus housing. There are
currently 458 students living on campus, nearly two-thirds of the Menlo enrollment.
“We are actually over
capacity ... we put a couple of male students in temporary housing. We
converted our El Camino Lounge into a temporary room but hope to have those
students moved into permanent rooms by the end of the week,” stated Residential
Life Coordinator, Adam Montez. “Even though we are short on rooms, this is a
great problem to have. The demand for on campus housing is high which must mean
the on- campus atmosphere is a must-have experience!”
The large influx of
fresh new faces this year has also brought a lot of ideas. For the first time
in school history, 57 clubs were established, exceeding the cap of 40 clubs established
by the school. While some clubs were asked to team-up with others in order to
decrease the overall number, faculty and staff are only seeing this as a
positive problem.
“It’s challenging, but exciting
because more students adds more enrichment. There are more ideas, more programs
and more growth,” Dean of Student Affairs, Yasmin Lambie-Simpson stated.
What’s next? More
on-campus jobs and leadership opportunities will be needed. Recently, the
school opened up its renovated workout center, creating on-campus job
opportunities for 15 students. Other offices such as SERV and The Union have
increased employment opportunities in order to help accommodate the growing
enrollment. Other offices are working hard to make sure the campus remains safe
and successful.
“It’s a great, the only thing to figure out now is how to ensure
great opportunities for all these students,” stated Lambie-Simpson.
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In the photo: Student Christ Dailey (left), Residential Life Coordinator Adam Montez, and students Andrew Vargas and Cheyenne Lopez
