Shelton 24/7 space to remain open for spring semester

While Shelton Hall’s 24-hour study space will not remain open for students permanently, it will be available for the remainder of the 2012-13 academic year, said Marc Robillard, Boston University’s executive director for housing and dining.

BU plans to move the study space to Myles Standish Hall in the fall 2013 semester when Shelton Hall becomes home to the Arvind and Chandan Nandlal Kilachand Honors College, Robillard said.

“We have rooms like the one in Shelton Hall that we keep open all night so that we can allow any student — on-campus, off-campus, graduate, undergraduate,” Robillard said. “As long as they are a student they can go in there and use that space.”

Robillard said the Shelton study space is one of two all-night study spaces on campus open to all BU students. The other is located at 575 Commonwealth Ave.

Student Government worked with BU officials to create more all-night study spaces on campus and opened Shelton’s 24-hour lounge at the start of the fall 2012 semester, said SG Director of Advocacy and spokesman Saurabh Mahajan.

“As a result of that [last year’s work] we were able to start one in Shelton Hall,” Mahajan, a College of Arts and Sciences freshman, said. “From what I’ve heard, people are happy. It’s useful, serving its purpose.”

When it was opened, SG officials said the Shelton lounge was a temporary 24/7 space and a permanent space would be opened in Myles Standish Hall’s former dining hall for the spring 2013 semester.

However, the Myles Standish Hall lounge is now planned for the fall 2013 semester.

The popularity and effectiveness of the 24-hour study space has prompted SG to consider opening more spaces, possibly in West Campus, Mahajan said.

“We are going to be working on starting one in West Campus,” he said. “Our biggest thing is to see if there would be enough demand, because it would be a small investment for the administration if they were to pursue this.”

A West Campus location would provide a study space for students who live past the western edge of campus and far from the current location in Shelton Hall, Mahajan said.

Katie Burns, a College of Communication junior who lives in Allston, said while the 24-hour study spaces are beneficial, the current locations do not meet her needs.

“If there is only one in Shelton Hall, since I am living so far down in Allston, I definitely won’t be using it,” Burns said. “It would be great if there was something in West Campus. A lot of kids living off campus would take advantage of it.”

Ilana Langsam, a CAS sophomore, said she was unaware BU had opened 24-hour study spaces and does not see herself visiting the spaces since she lives in South Campus.

However, Langsam said an option in West Campus would be good for the student population in the area.

“That’s a better option, for people who live down there [in West Campus], than walking back from the library at 2 a.m,” she said.

Robillard said BU officials do not have any plans to expand late-night dining options.

“We can keep that [discussion topic] open later, but we are evaluating that as we go along,” Robillard said.

A number of dining halls with late-night dining options, including The Towers and Myles Standish Hall, were closed when Marciano Commons was opened at 100 Bay State Road at the start of the fall 2012 semester.

Mahajan said SG is not fighting for increased late-night dining options on campus at this time.

“If we find this ends up something that the students need or students feel their voice needs to be heard on this, sure we can look into it,” he said.

Burns said late-night dining halls would be helpful for students studying at late hours.

“I can’t get into any of the dining halls for late night,” she said. “It would be nice if there was something in the GSU [the George Sherman Union] or off campus that students could grab a snack or something that would keep them going in the library.”