In a campus facilities update email sent on March 11, Baruch College students received notification of several projects that were slated to begin or were already underway.

There are scheduled elevator updates and roof replacements in the Information and Technology Building.

William and Anita Newman Vertical Campus floor replacements started on the first floor and the lower level. These updates are expected to be completed in fall 2022.

In both the ITB and NVC, there are mechanical cooling and heating equipment repairs and door replacements to fulfill Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

The campus facilities management team addressed the terrazzo floor replacement in the NVC in an email sent on Oct  1.

They announced that the repair would be divided into phases with high traffic areas completed over winter break, but the 25^th Street entrance from the Clivner=Field Plaza is currently closed for construction. Since the renovations began, traffic has been rerouted to the 24th Street entrance. The project is expected to be completed by summer 2022.

Paper signs were put up shortly after the construction began instructing people to use the 24th Street doors, but some still tried to access the NVC through the 25th Street entrance before they were rerouted by security.

The Undergraduate Student Government posted on its Instagram stories when the construction began, saying that members of the Baruch community should reroute to the 24th Street entrance, but students were still confused and frustrated.

While USG Representative Senator Andrew Lu, a finance major, said that he could not speak on behalf of USG, he gave some personal insights into the renovation’s effect on his day-to-day experience.

“[It is] a bit inconvenient, just because one of the benefits of having 25^th street blocked off is being able to come from the vertical campus to the library building (directly),” Lu said.

On the other hand, Lu said that installing the bike racks in the plaza was “one of the greatest things that they did this year” since his bike is always close by no matter where he is on campus.

Lu said that he feels the revolving doors help the flow of two-way traffic through the building and that it helps him not to get stuck holding the door.

When asked what he hoped to see out of the renovations, Lu replied, “I had no idea that this was happening.”

He said he was surprised when the construction began on the floor by the 25th St. entrance and that he “expected more of a heads up” and “ideally they would have held off until after finals.”

If he had known about the renovations beforehand, he said he would have planned out his day differently.

When asked if he felt like he was notified in advance about the renovations, Avrohom Malachowski, a corporate communications major, said “they might have I don’t remember even hearing.”

“Now there is much less space for people to sit in a place that did not have enough to begin with,” Malachowski said.

He also advocated for Baruch to create food options in the future cafeteria.

“I hope that they will be putting in a place where students will be able to get food or a meal plan because that’s something that I feel students need,” he said.

Malachowski said that though it takes him a bit longer to get inside the building, the door replacement “has not affected me much” and he is “unbothered either way.”