Den hemmelige pris - CBS OBSERVER

c b s o b s e r v e r 9 d e c e m b e r 2 0 0 9 2 1No facilities for local socializingCBS is very supportive of Campus activities that cross the boundaries of study programs. But theadministrative concern for the social life at the program level is noticeably absent. CBS Studentsdemand direct funding of student associations, and CBS’ administration taking a second lookYour friendly gatekeeper at the entrance to CBS on a Thursday night. ’Torsdagsbar’ at Nexus is one of the fewoccasions for socializing at CBS.p l a c e a n d s p a c eAf Ulrik BorchPhoto: Liselotte ØstergaardMany students have hit their headsagainst the wall when trying to finda place to get together with theirclassmates after school. Time aftertime they have been told that CBSdoes not have adequate facilitiesfor catering to this need. The difficultywith finding a place to socializeafter class illustrates a socialoversight at CBS.At CBS the social environment isevaluated as a part of the school’slearning environment – in the studyboards, in different course evaluationsand once every three yearsas a part of the overall evaluationof the learning environment. Whilethere is agreement that there is acorrespondence between the socialand academic aspects of Campuslife, the administration at CBS hasyet to develop a strategy for thesocial environment at the localstudy program level.Diversity at the cost of unityDiversity Day at CBS on November12th presented a number of studentorganizations that offer opportunitiesto participate in extracurricularactivities. In 2004 CBS’ administrationstarted a programme calledDiversity@CBS aimed at bringingstudents together across studiesand different national and ethnicbackgrounds. But somewhere itappears to have forgotten to developa policy to address the demandsfor after-school activities at the programmelevel.- Diversity@CBS is a great initiative,but it is also important tosupport local activities. We offera grant with a standard amountof DKR 10,000 to the individualprogram student associations, andwe would like to see the administrationalso doing something, saysJenskumar Sivagurunathan, CBSStudents’ chairman.Currently the Study Board atHA (psyk.) (BSC Business andPsychology) is the only StudyBoard to sponsor its student associationwith DKR 15.000 – anamount that is doubled by CBSStudents matching it. Director ofCampus and Facilities at CBS, GertBechlund supports this move, buthe would like to see more than justmoney on the table:- First of all we have to admitthat CBS needs to do more to provideits students with adequatefacilities for so-called extracurricularactivities. We have noticedthat many students want to engagethemselves in the Campus life, andI don’t think it can be denied thata strong social environment helpsimprove the academic life as well,Gert Bechlund points out.CBS’ social oversightThe most apparent issue is the lackof places for the students to gettogether and socialize after school.The student-run student bars atCBS, Nexus and La Cable, the latterof which is scheduled to start runningagain in 2010, are the kind ofplaces where you get together withyour friends in general rather thanwith your study program co-students.The problem is that there areno alternative places to go unlessyou are willing to leave campus.Although he points to differentdemands facing the administrationof the facilities at CBS, GertBechlund concedes that the lack ofplaces dedicated to social activitiesis regrettable:- In the past decades of expansionat CBS the architecture hasfailed to make room for the afterschool social activities that arealso an important part of what wecall a learning environment, GertBechlund explains and continues:- Our buildings are not suited forparties and other kinds of socialarrangements. Nexus for instance islocated in-between learning facilities,and we need guards presentto see that the number of entrantsdoes not exceed the limit set by thenot-so-lenient Fire Department.Still Sivagurunathan doesn’tunderstand why programmes can’tget a room for after school activities,referring to the students atBusiness and Philosophy whomeet once a week outside school.He grumpily mentions the postponementof the construction ofa student house, “Studenterhuset”.Studenterhuset was scheduled tostart construction in the fall of 2009but its constructionis currentlyon hold. Thoughthe prospectsfor its initiationare unclear, GertBechlund claimshe still has faithin the project.An optionmight be toallow studentsthe use some ofthe class roomsthat are oftenempty in theafternoon as aplace to hang out after school –ideally including a beer or two, butmaybe just for a cup of tea and aboard game, a place to listen tosome music and socialize with theother years of your programme.- We are willing to help studentsfind a place to arrange meetings,watch a movie and so on, but upuntil now we have not allowedarrangements in classrooms toinclude eating and drinking, GertBechlund remarks to that idea.Every program for itselfAs things stand mpw, some studyprograms have strong social environmentsand meet frequently andacross the different years whileothers don’t even have a studentassociation. Although the social environmentby nature must be basedon student initiative, CBS could domore to help encourage it:- DKR 10,000 is not a lot comparedto the size of a programbudget, Jenskumar Sivagurunathansays, pointing to the HA (psyk.)‘In the past decadesof expansion at CBS thearchitecture has failed tomake room for the afterschool social activities thatare also an important partof what we call a learningenvironment.Gert BechlundDirector of Campus andFacilities at CBSStudy Board’s sponsorship of itsstudent association – somethingthat is appreciated by the programsstudents:- It’s really great! People from allyears meet up and have a beer.This also contributesto theacademic sideof things. Westarted out with100 students inclass, which wastoo many forthis, but nowwe’re down to60-65 and youcan actuallymanage to havea relationshipwith everyone,says PhilipMaruszewicz, anenthusiastic second year HA (psyk.)student.Gert Bechlund is open toaddressing the issue, but has otherconcerns than merely a sponsorship:- Maybe we should also considermaking it a school policy that theStudy Boards are responsible foroverlooking and supporting theirown program’s social environment,not only economically like HA(psyk.) but perhaps also by providingideas and helping to build upa social environment that is notbased in a physical environment,but is located in between the students,he says.Establishing social activitieslocally will obviously continue tobe almost completely dependent onstudent initiative, and with no placeto call their own, students who arewilling to work towards strengtheningtheir study program’s sociallife at CBS will continue to face atough job.1Socializing in a large scale. If you want to get cosy with your fellow students and want to stay within the CBS confines,there is almost nowhere else to go but Nexus.