{"id":47592,"date":"2011-09-29T15:51:18","date_gmt":"2011-09-29T19:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=47592"},"modified":"2011-10-07T08:25:26","modified_gmt":"2011-10-07T12:25:26","slug":"student-only-parking-highlights-changes-at-health-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/09\/student-only-parking-highlights-changes-at-health-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Student-only Parking Highlights Changes at Health Center"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lot<\/a>
Lot K, the first lot on the right on approach to the academic entrance, is reserved for student-only parking effective Oct. 3, 2011. (Image supplied by Facilities Development & Operations\/UConn Health Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The UConn Health Center is taking a parking lot on the academic side of the main building and reserving its 94 spaces exclusively for students.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of an effort this semester to enhance the student experience on campus, along with a new student lounge and bookstore.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we worked with students to discuss how to improve their day-to-day experience, parking was a top priority,\u201d says Health Center Chief Administrative Officer Carolle Andrews.<\/p>\n

Lot K on the academic side of the main building will require a student ID badge to bypass the gate starting Monday, Oct. 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn any given day it should handle most of the student parking needs,\u201d says Assistant Police Chief Ray Bouchard.<\/p>\n

\"Lot<\/a>
Lot K is reserved exclusively for students effective Oct. 3, 2011. A student ID badge is required to lift the gate weekdays from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Chris DeFrancesco\/UConn Health Center Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The need for student parking is highly important to students, who have been more vocal about this issue than almost any other in my experience at the Health Center,” says Sean Ghassem-Zadeh, second-year dental student and president of the Medical\/Dental Student Government. \u201cHaving a place to park will allow more students to come on time or come at all, because as it stands the parking spot scarcity discourages class attendance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students already are seeing the other differences. The UConn Co-op Health Center Bookstore closed for three business days earlier this month to vacate its space on the ground floor and relocate to newly renovated space one floor above. The Co-op is operating out of a portion of its new area, with the space expected to be complete and fully functional by mid\/late-October.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than being tucked around a corner off the beaten path, the UConn Co-op Health Center Bookstore now is in the middle of the academic area on the main floor, right up the stairs off the academic lobby,\u201d says Dirk Fecho, Co-op division manager. \u201cThis enhances our academic mission to support the efforts of the UConn Health Center. Our vision has been an open look so that one can see directly into the store through the large glass store front, with the eye being drawn to the book and clothing wall in the back, surrounded by windows and natural light, which is something we didn\u2019t have in the old store.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The UConn Health Center Co-op Bookstore's new home is on the main floor atop one of the staircases from the academic lobby. (Photo provided by UConn Co-op\/UConn Health Center Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The bookstore\u2019s former location, on the ground floor, is now part \u00a0of a new student lounge: a 2,000 square-foot area that when complete by the end of October will feature big-screen televisions, a computer area, gaming tables such as ping pong, pool and air hockey, and a furnished kitchen area with solid surface counter tops, refrigerators, and microwave ovens.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lounge has been in need of renovation and improvement for a number of years,\u201d Andrews says. \u201cThe new lounge is twice the size of the old one, and students from all three of our schools will use it, which we believe will create a greater sense of community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am optimistic that once the student lounge opens completely that it will serve its original purpose: to be a place where students can gather, relax, eat food, and enjoy themselves in the limited time that they have in a warm and positive environment,\u201d Ghassem-Zadeh says.<\/p>\n

The relocation of the bookstore and expansion of the lounge would not have been possible without the cooperation of students, staff and faculty, including the Department of Neurology, whose faculty and staff agreed to relocate their academic offices to accommodate the bookstore move.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis demonstrates our wonderful collaborative relationship of faculty, staff and students,\u201d says Dr. Suzanne Rose, senior associate dean for education. \u201cEveryone listens, tries to find solutions, and we all try for an environment that supports well-being and good spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents are patient,\u201d <\/strong>Ghassem-Zadeh says. \u201cThey understand some issues take time to resolve. Students understand the Health Center is undergoing a lot of changes, both structurally and otherwise, and they are aware that things will likely end up for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Follow the\u00a0UConn Health Center<\/a> on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a> and\u00a0YouTube<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Efforts to improve the student experience include the exclusive lot plus a new lounge and bookstore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":47602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[57,2010],"class_list":["post-47592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uconn-health","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 01:50:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47592"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47634,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47592\/revisions\/47634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/47602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47592"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=47592"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=47592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}