By: Erica Lampert ~Staff Writer~

The Division of Student Affairs and Student Government Association (SGA) are currently looking for creative ideas from students for the new student focused space in the Gallagher Student Center (GSC).

The project, named Project 350, began in April of last semester when GSC manager Chris Marshall saw the lack of student driven ideas in the student center.

To fix the problem, Marshall decided to create Project 350 as an extension to the other projects that have been occurring in the GSC.

“One thing I noticed right when I got here was that lack of things that students have designed, their ideas and that feedback from the students,” Marshall said.

Project 350 is a way for students’ ideas to be heard and to encourage some healthy student competition.

The project requires students to submit their ideas for the office space of GSC 350 contain, based on what they believe will help the student community.

“We’re asking students to come up with ideas on what they think the space should be or what they believe is missing around campus,” Marshall said. “We really want this process to be a learning opportunity for students as they develop their ideas through this process.”

The space for the project is located on the third floor of the GSC, next to the Clock Tower Lounge.

The space is 400 square feet in total area and is currently an office space with an additional office space closed within.

There are some limitations to the student ideas, however because the space is small and has no running water. The room cannot accommodate a restaurant, food vendor or any large operational demands.

The idea should also not be tied to any specific student population or university department.

“Even though we’ve had a couple of submissions involving food, other students have talked about things like napping stations, napping pods, a relaxation type room and a recording studio,” Marshall said.

Initial submissions for the ideas will be held until Dec. 9. Reviewing of the proposals by staff, faculty and students in SGA and the Division of Student Affairs will happen once all the submissions are gathered.

Five finalists will then be decided, and they will be asked to pitch their ideas to the Xavier community with help from business school staff and the Center of Innovation.

“We want to involve professionals and staff members to help them develop their ideas from ‘Hey I have this idea,’ to ‘Hey this is how it will actually work,’” Marshall said.

Students will be able to vote on the project in January and provide feedback about the ideas that are pitched.

They can either attend the pitches of the five finalists or read more about them online after the initial pitch is completed.

Construction of the winner’s idea is expected to begin during summer 2017 with the grand opening occurring in fall 2017.

For more information, students can get in contact with Chris Marshall, or go to http://www. xavier.edu/gsc/Project-350.cfm.

For students who want to submit a proposal, the following link https://orgsync.com/37471/ forms/226472 will lead them there.