UWRF students asked to vote on proposed Falcon Center fee
February 18, 2015
Student Senate is encouraging students around the UW-River Falls campus to vote next week on the proposed Falcon Center fee which would help fund maintenance of the facility.
The referendum will ask students to vote in favor or against the fee, which would cost each UWRF student $175 for the 2015-16 academic year, increasing to $200 for future years. The fee would not go towards construction of the building, which is already fully funded, but would contribute mostly to employee compensation as well as equipment and information technology upkeep, according to Chancellor Dean Van Galen’s proposal.
The Falcon Center will be devoted to athletics and general physical well-being. According to Senate President Anthony Sumnicht, the Falcon Center will be free to students. The facility is expected to offer varying levels of membership to alumni and the general public. According to his proposal, Van Galen expects the Falcon Center to contribute to student retention and recruitment.
According to the project website, the Falcon Center “includes classrooms, a human performance laboratory, a large gymnasium, dance studio, auxiliary gym, offices, locker rooms, training rooms and other supporting spaces.”
The project will also include the remodeling of the existing Hunt Arena and the Knowles Center. Upon completion of the Falcon Center, the Karges Center and the Nelson Physical Education Center will be demolished.
Many students currently attending UWRF will not have the chance to use the Falcon Center, which is expected to be available for students starting in the fall of 2017, before graduating.
During Senate’s weekly meeting on Feb. 17, a goal was set for 100 voting students per Senate representative. Were this goal reached, it would be an unprecedented amount of student voters, considering only roughly 200 student ballots were received for Senate presidential elections late last March.
Details on the exact time and method of delivery of the referendum is still in the works. Details will be posted on the Student Voice's twitter account, @uwrfvoice, once they're announced.