Explanation & Purpose of the Union Board

The Union Board was founded in the fall of 1987 as an advisory group for the newly renovated Wheelock Student Center. It was formed to develop, maintain, and implement policies for management of the student union building.

The Wheelock Student Center, more than any other facility on the campus, expresses the sense of wholeness, of community so essential to the educational goals of the university. Concretely this means:

  • The building needs to communicate immediately and effectively the sense that it is primarily a "people" place, a center for meeting students, faculty, and staff, a location for convening groups and program opportunities.
  • The building should communicate a sense of serving as the "heart" of the on-campus and off-campus community. Aesthetic appeal, access to student services, and centralized information will encourage this central function.
  • The building should give evidence of the diversity and vitality which characterize the campus.
  • The various services and functions presented by the building should be located in a convenient and efficient configuration.
  • The building design should be flexible. The needs of students, faculty, and staff are constantly changing. In this environment, the university must be able to respond to changes brought on by students' new desires, efficiencies of technology, and the demands of building users.