Going downtown

I just got off the bus on the Grand Rapids campus, but still have time to spare before my next class. So why not tell you all a little about the Grand Rapids campus, right? Pins and needles, I’m sure. A lot of students worry about the whole split campus set up, but as I’ve said before, you shouldn’t be concerned—the busing system works out great. But a large number of students should still be interested about the downtown campus, since we have several majors that are essentially run from this location. Chief among these are business, nursing and the health sciences, criminal justice, education, engineering, social work, and public and nonprofit administration. There are others, but these seven make up the bulk of the facilities. There are really three structures worth mentioning downtown; the Devos Center (not to be confused with Devos Place), the Eberhard Center, and the Cook-Dewitt Center for Health Sciences.

Devos is where I spend most of my time, and not just because of the dining hall there. There’s a large number of classrooms, as well as the entire Seidman School of Business office, multiple computer labs, and the Steelcase Library. It’s probably the best place to study between classes, since so many resources are available to you. But just next to the river is the Eberhard Center, which I thin is the tallest Grand Valley structure. More classrooms are here, as well as a convention center, and it’s connected to the Kennedy Engineering Hall. I was just in the engineering hall this summer for a friend’s open house for class, and it’s a great building. Finally, the CHS building is further inside Grand Rapids, on the hill. I’ve never actually been inside this structure myself, but I can tell you that it has a great location. The street that it’s on is referred to as the “medical mile,” and it’s a prime spot for students finding internships in the health sciences.

But that’s all for now. If you’ve got a question, don hesitate to ask here or give us a call.

-Kyle

Recreation facilities on campus

First home football game tonight, which means the campus is pumped up. The admissions office, not so much. It’s a little quiet up here on the third floor today, so it’s probably a good chance to get a little writing done. Even though I’m tempted to talk about football, I probably won’t have much to say until after the game. But along the lines of athletics, a good subject to bring up is the campus rec. center.

GVSU has a great student gym, with three floors of facilities. The middle floor has a load of cardio machines, probably more than you could ever need. It’s also convenient if you warm up or cool down on aerobics machines, because the middle floor is also where the entrance to the facility is. Beneath that we have weight machines, free weights, a total of five basketball courts, and various medicine balls. A nice additional feature is the elevated track; the third floor has a 1/9 of a mile track with a great view of the three main basketball/volleyball courts. And what might be the best part of all is the fact that students have free access to the rec. center with their id card. The rec. center also hosts a large number of our on campus intramural sports.

But there’s more than one workout facility on campus. Students also have free access to Grand Valley’s pool facility, racquetball courts, and the Laker Turf Center. So if students want to run a few laps on the Turf Center’s 300 meter track, play a game of flag football, or just swim a few laps, all a student needs is a valid GVSU id.
But that’s about it for now, all of this talk about the gyms on campus is making me feel guilty for not working out more often. As always, if you’ve got a question, post it.

-Kyle

First week of class

Today has been a day that’s given me flashbacks to the summer break; we have today off as part of the Labor Day weekend here at GVSU, and even though there are still students on campus, I think most of them are taking the opportunity to sleep in. But classes did start last week, on the 31st, with all the bells and whistles. Getting used to new professors, meeting new people, actually finding the classrooms, quite a lot happens in quite a short period of time. Having been here for a while, I forget how intimidating it can be to a new student, but it’s not as bad as you would think it is. A lot of the structures have recently been reorganized, so it’s simpler to find different locations. Mackinac Hall, for instance, was given all new office numbers and wings just last year, so it’s pretty easy to navigate now. Plus, Transitions was two weeks ago, so there were groups of freshmen being led around by upper classmen for most of that period. Which I have to laugh at, because it’s probably the most organized that a group of freshmen will be all year long. There was also a poster sale on campus last week, and best of all I had a chance to eat at Fresh Foods earlier (and yes, it was as good as I remember it). And even though it’s quiet at the moment, Student Life Night is tonight (I think), so we should see packs of students returning this evening to sign up for clubs and organizations on campus. But, that’s all I have to say right now, so if you’re wondering about anything, don’t forget to post it.

-Kyle

No more summer

Well, today is the last day of move-in week, by the end of today all the freshmen will be on campus. Which means classes start Monday, which means that there are four days left of Summer. Surprise! No more break. To be honest, though, I’m ready for a change. For the last three weeks we’ve been between semesters, so it’s been an empty campus for the most part. It’s nice to see a full student body again, especially because all the activities start rolling back into campus.

If I recall correctly the picnic by the Carillon Tower is today, there’s a drive in movie this Saturday, and Fresh Foods Company finally has regular hours. And believe me, I’m probably most excited about that last one. There should be a poster sale coming up within the next one or two weeks, and student life night is right around the corner. Plus, it’s funny to watch all of the freshmen realize that things like printing or athletic tickets are free for students. So to make a long story short, we’re back up and running.

I finally got out to buy textbooks, and my advice to anyone reading this is to either buy your books in advance or reserve them ahead of time. Buying them last minute isn’t a terrible experience, but reserving them makes it a lot faster. But with that anecdote I’ll be signing off, so if you’ve got a question, voice it.

-Kyle

Middle of August-- you know what that means

So the school year is pretty swiftly approaching (or at least a lot faster than it was back in June), and there are still several items that I’ve yet to take care of. Buying textbooks, finding out friends’ schedules, figuring out where my classes are, but hey, there’s still time, right? So instead of actually getting done what I need to, I figured I’d ask you guys what’s going on. With classes starting soon, what are your concerns? Is anybody reading this going to be a freshman this fall? Anybody looking to transfer in this winter?

I can argue that I’m asking about what’s going on for the readers because class is nearing, but the truth is that I’m suffering from writers block right now. Never mind that I’m not a professional writer, I’m just failing to come up with a good topic. So let us know what you’re all up to, we’d love to get some info or feedback from our readers.

-Kyle

Additional charges

GVSU has been pretty consistently been labeled as one of the best value colleges in Michigan, meaning that a lot of your activities and facilities are covered by the university, so students wind up hearing a lot of "such-and-such is free" for students. That being said, there is a handful of items that have associated charges with them, so it's a good idea to know a few of them in advance.

We’ll take care of the biggest charge up front, and that’s parking. Students who want a GVSU parking pass pay $155 per semester. Keep in mind, this is not a necessary charge, since you can use the busing system to get to and from either the downtown campus or the off campus apartments, which is free. Of course, that $155 doesn’t cover your own cost of gas, insurance, buying a car, etc, etc.

After parking, extra costs practically fall off the map. Use of the climbing center is $3 for a day pass with another $2 for equipment rental, tickets for comedians or special musical guests are generally between $5 and $10, intramural sports have an initial charge (can’t think of it off the top of my head, though), and special fitness or athletic services have charges as well (like massages, personal trainers, or nutrition counseling) Use of dance and fitness classes is charged on a semester basis, $20 for mind/body classes, $25 for land/spinning classes, or $40 for all access. Students don’t have free access to the golf course, but they do get a discount; $12 for 9 holes or $18 for 18 holes (walking).

And that’s about it. Pretty much all of our additional charges can be summed up in a paragraph, I can’t think of anything else. I asked around the office, and most other activities on campus are free. Use of the pool, rec-center, turf center, computer labs, printing, guest lecture speakers, busing, internet, advising, counseling, none of these have an extra charge. Some classes in the 300 level or above have extra tuition charges for additional facilities, but these are added to your tuition, so financial aid can cover these, and while they vary from class to class, they’re never more than $20 (also, don’t forget that you have to buy your textbooks, unless you’re best friends with a publishing house). This looks like a good spot to stop, all of the dollar signs in this post are causing me to lament the current economy. If you’ve got any questions, want to know about a particular service, or think you know of a charge that I’ve missed, post it and let me know.

-Kyle

Odd Weather

I would have to say that this most definitely does not feel like August, seeing as short sleeves feels like a mistake. But there you go, in most places summer is “in like a lion, out like a lamb,” but in Michigan the lion eats the lamb and then has indigestion. It hasn’t really felt like summer at all thus far, so I’m not sure if it will start anytime soon. Most people wouldn’t be happy that I’m saying this, but that’s kind of to my relief; I never cared for hot and muggy, I’ve always preferred cool and dry.

Truth be told, though, that pretty much sums up Allendale. A lot of people think that lake effect weather means massive precipitation, but I’ve always felt that the lake effect just makes the weather somewhat unpredictable (but last time I checked I’m not an anchor for the Weather Channel). If you know a week in advance how much rain or snow will be falling, you’re a miracle worker. To compensate for that, we’ve got pretty great facilities upkeep staff. I’m not sure if landscaping also takes care of snow removal during winter, but whoever does it probably is the aforementioned miracle workers. Just about all of the sidewalks on campus are always cleared off, and they do an amazing job of salting during wintertime. As far as fall and spring go, I would encourage having a good jacket and reliable umbrella, but after that your guess is as good as mine. 12 inches of rainfall? I could see it happening. A snowstorm in April? Sure, why not. Don’t think of it a rough weather, just… adventurous weather. As always, ask if you’ve got a question.

-Kyle