Post Classifieds
Committee begins to 'beautify' campus
By Katie Anderson
On November 7, 2012
A new advisory committee has been formed to help make Buffalo State's campus beautiful.
The Campus Beautification Committee was formed in September with the objective to recommend
business processes and projects that will "enhance the aesthetic beauty, the comfort and appearance of
campus facilities," said Sarah Reid, chair of the committee.
Reid said that the committee would initially focus on the exterior of campus, making things such as
landscape, sidewalks and flowerbeds a priority in beautifying the campus.
The committee's recommendations are expected to have positive effects on recruitment and retention
rates. Karen O'Quin, associate dean of natural and social sciences, is also on the committee, and said
that the appearance of the campus is a factor influencing student enrollment numbers.
"Enrollment management studies have shown that perspective students and their parents cite the
appearance of the campus as being important in their decision to come or not to come," she said. "A
nice environment makes people feel better, interact better and even behave better."
The 13-member committee was brought up in President Aaron Podolefsky's address as one topic that
was moving forward.
Since then, the committee has met twice, has taken a walk around campus to see what can be improved
and has established their first initiative - muddy ruts.
"Around campus there are a lot of areas next to the sidewalks where grass is not growing," Reid said.
"There are muddy ruts - that's actually our first goal. So, we're trying to research why it's happening,
what could be possible solutions and make our recommendation."
O'Quin said that muddy ruts are a result of the lack of policy, badly designed sidewalks and vehicles
driving over the already muddy paths.
"There's no explicit campus policy that says campus vehicles cannot drive on the grass," she said. "So,
we might need to get policy changes, but we certainly would also need enforcement - that's one of the
things that I think has been missing."
Another area the committee would like to focus on is landscaping. Since the staff consists of three
people taking care of the trees, shrubs and landscapes on campus, sustainability is something that Reid
said should probably be discussed.
She said that although the three-person staff is hard-working, the campus is too large for only three
people to keep up with.
"I think we need to think about sustainable landscapes," Reid said. "Maybe we could have less of them,
but the ones that we have look really well."
The committee is currently looking into ways students can contribute to the beautification process.
O'Quin said that student attitudes and awareness can have a big impact and that she would like "to see
a student representative on the committee."
Since the committee only meets once a month, Reid said that they would like to be a season ahead with
the recommendations that they make.
"We have talked about some issues with winter and we're going to be looking at that," she
said. "Unfortunately, since we just started, it's hard to be as far ahead as we'd like."
In the next meeting, scheduled for Nov. 19, O'Quin would like the committee to continue identifying the
problems and finding the criteria for prioritizing them.
"I think this is going to lead to improvement," Reid said. "They might not be immediate, but over time."
Katie Anderson can be reached by email at anderson.record@live.com.
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