By: Andrew Koch
Students looking for a place to study into the early hours of the morning have one less place to do so, as the Conaton Learning Commons (CLC) will no longer be open 24/5.
Starting this semester, the CLC will now be open from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday.
According to Alison Morgan, assistant director of access services in the McDonald Library, the salaries of overnight student workers who staffed the CLC were among the university-wide budget cuts that take effect this semester.
“It was a budget decision,” Morgan said. “The IT division, like a lot of other departments across campus, had to make cuts.”
Student workers whose jobs were cut and who qualify for federal work-study were offered replacement positions during normal operating hours, Morgan said.
Morgan also said that, despite the budget cuts, the IT department is exploring options that would have the CLC open for extended hours during peak study times, such as the weeks leading up to and including final exams.
“We are considering extending hours around finals weeks,” Morgan said. “We’re working with the leadership, IT and campus police to see what our options
By Andre w koch
Campus News Editorare.”
While its weekday hours were cut, the CLC’s weekend hours have remained the same (7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays). The CLC will also now open at 10 a.m. and close at 1 a.m. on Sundays.
And while the CLC has limited its operating hours, the McDonald Library has extended its operating hours to 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. on weekdays, a ten-hour weekly increase from previous years. In addition, Gallagher Student Center remains open to students 24/7.
“We’d very much like to provide study space for students, and the CLC is an important part of that. But it’s a matter of staffing,” Morgan said.
