So many students, not enough space. Over the past few years, the population of students at California Baptist University has grown immensely. While this has led to great success for the university as a whole, it also brought the need for more study spaces.
With few options, students have gotten creative in the past in their search for study areas after hours. Common areas are typically full, leaving students restless in their search for a good study environment.
The Annie Gabriel Library is one common place to study, but it closes at 1 a.m. most nights. Students are also able to study in the lobbies of the Yeager Center, Dr. Robert K. Jabs School of Business or the Dennis and Carol Troesh Engineering Building, as well as open classrooms, dining areas or Lancer Plaza. However, these areas are often crowded and close early.
In a campus-wide email sent Oct. 15, CBU announced students will now have the option to study in the Alumni Dining Commons in the evening.
CBU has decided to implement late-night study hall in the ADC from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. Monday through Thursday. This will continue throughout the 2019-2020 school year.
The Office of Student Success aims to ensure that all students have the necessary resources available to succeed academically, and the most popular suggestion found in CBU’s previous end-of-year student survey was the desire for more study spaces.
Dr. Jeff Barnes, dean of Student Success, said his office offers many different resources to students in order to ensure their academic success. These resources include a writing center, mentoring, individual tutoring, success seminars and other methods of academic accountability. “It is the goal in the Office of Student Success to allow students to be as successful as they want to be. Our motto is ‘from the classroom to commencement,’” Barnes said. “We want students to be able to study in the environment best for them.”
Barnes also offered advice to students struggling with studying and writing essays.
“When studying, the best advice I would give to students is to give yourself time to write the paper, and time to rewrite the paper. Writing the paper is only the first step in the writing process. You must write it, revise it, edit it and write it again,” Barnes said.
Finding a way to focus and study efficiently is a challenge in itself, but finding an environment that works for each individual person can also be challenging.
Wanda’s and Chick-fil-A seating is a good study environment for students who like community, while the library is for students who prefer to study alone in a quiet area.
Jennifer Lee, graduate assistant in the Office of Student Success, described her personal studying style.
“I’ve never pulled an all-nighter. I must make time for myself during the day to study instead of putting it off for later,” Lee said.
“My favorite environment to study in would be something similar to a coffee shop. It’s not too quiet, but not too busy. I place myself in a location and won’t allow myself to leave until I get all my work done.”
While the addition of a new Dennis and Carol Troesh Engineering Building in the fall of 2018 added additional study areas for students, engineering majors have had difficulty finding areas to study since the engineering and business buildings are usually crowded.
Emily Sublette, senior computer science major, said it has been difficult for her to find spots on campus to study. She said she studies best in classrooms because they offer secluded spaces with a lot of space to work on whiteboards. However, most classrooms are used for courses throughout the day.
“I can almost never find an open room anywhere. Since the engineering building, my favorite study spot, is not open late because of its expensive equipment, it’s hard to find a spot to study at night,” Sublette said. “Late-night study hall is a great start to meeting students’ needs for spaces to study at night.”
Faculty and staff at CBU are dedicated to serving students in every way possible. They look for new ways to meet the needs of students and to lessen the chaos of college life.
The new schedule of late- night study hall hours at the Alumni Dining Commons is one way CBU is working to eliminate obstacles that students face and provide opportunities for their academic success.
