Seasonal allergies, a sinus infection or that nasty cold that just won’t go away. Getting sick is inevitable as a college student, but knowing Student Health is close by is always one of the few reassuring aspects when we don’t feel well.
It won’t be reassuring for much longer though.
With the Memorial Student Affairs Building to be demolished, the plan is for the Student Health Offices to move to the Health Sciences Education Center II.
This must change.
Where it is located now, Student Health is centrally located. This move would put the offices on the west edge of campus, far from the majority of campus life and all of the residence halls. Their services would be much less accessible to students.
Less accessible health services will lead to fewer students getting the help they need.
Asking sick students to travel to the far end of campus is unreasonable. If they are not feeling well, students aren’t going to want to or be able to go very far. This would only worsen their condition and prolong their recovery.
Everything is about proximity for us college students – if it’s not close, then we won’t want to go, especially if it once was closer.
Driving to the far end of campus may be an option, but not all students have cars or have someone they can ask to take them. If the offices were moved to a location still on the east side of campus, residential students wouldn’t even have to worry about how to get there.
Changes like these are supposed to make things easier, not harder.
Off-campus students may already have to drive to campus to visit Student Health, but since it is centrally located, it is still less out of the way for them. It would be if it were moved to the Health Sciences Education Center II.
This building is new and unfamiliar to most students. It is a big facility, and putting Student Health in there would be intimidating.
Imagine a sick freshman who is still getting their feet under themself and getting comfortable with campus, having to trek down to the west side of campus and try to figure out where they are going. If they aren’t feeling well, they won’t be up for a daunting task like this.
Our team has identified one positive with relocating Student Health to the Health Sciences Education Center II. This move would be a good opportunity for healthcare students to get practicum experience and apply what they are learning to a real-world setting.
Still, the payoff of this move would not be substantial for how much it is going to cost students.
University administration needs to reconsider moving Student Health to a more central location on campus. While the Memorial Student Affairs Building is set to be torn down, there has to be a better location to move the offices than the far edge of campus.
Students’ health is important. We know the University sees it as important too, so let’s do everything we can to best support students. Moving Student Health to the Health Sciences Education Center II is not the answer.
