A new Counseling and Psychological Services center, as well as a 3-D printing lab, will come to North Campus soon following a $7,500 grant from Engineering Student Government.
The North Campus Wellness Zone will include amenities like massage chairs, sun lamps and yoga and meditation tools, and will become the first CAPS resource center on North Campus. This is an addition to the two CAPS counselors who have been serving the College of Engineering since January. It will be located in Pierpont Commons.
Engineering sophomore Xavier Yeshayahu, Vice President-elect of ESG, noted in an email interview engineering students would no longer have to take a bus to Central Campus in order to access Wellness Zone resources.
“Just the fact that there is now a CAPS resource on North Campus will benefit engineers, most of whom live on North Campus,” Yeshayahu wrote. “It also will greatly benefit freshmen, many of whom live on North, and given that freshmen are more likely to suffer from depression.”
The initiative was headed by Engineering sophomores Natalie Baughan and Ainsley Ashman Jr., who are part of the CSG Mental Health Taskforce. In an email interview, Ashman said the taskforce identified a number of issues with mental health resources and availability on North Campus as part of their CSG mental health report, and he wanted ESG, as the representative student body of the largest school on North Campus, to have a stake in the development process.
“Within the resolution that passed ESG authorizing the funding I was sure to write in several clauses concerning ESG oversight of the project and encouraging CAPS to seek robust student input on the wellness zone as a condition of its funding by ESG,” Ashman wrote. “I think that those clauses provide robust accountability mechanisms that will ensure that the Wellness Zone is a space that students on North Campus will be proud of and will be willing to use.”
In an email, CAPS director Todd Sevig wrote that the new Wellness Zone will complement the Central Campus Wellness Zone — which is used by 5,000 students every year — and said CAPS will plan and work with student groups to recreate the experience over the coming year.
“I am so excited about this development and think it will serve all students well, especially the students who live and take classes on North Campus,” Sevig wrote. “I am so impressed by both CSG and Engineering government for the caring they are showing in these allocations for fellow students.”
Another North Campus advancement, a new 3-D Printing Lab is to be set up in GG Brown. Yeshayahu said the Duderstadt Center 3-D Lab could not accommodate the influx of students during busy project seasons, so ESG proposed buying and donating more 3-D printers.
“Toward the second half of the semester, when many project teams from ME 250 and 350 need to have parts printed at the same time, there were huge backups and the Duderstadt Center 3-D Lab was just not efficient timewise,” Yeshayahu wrote.
According to Yeshayahu, ESG was surprised to hear the Department of Mechanical Engineering offered to build a new center, with a complete set of computers, maintenance and staff. The benefits, Yeshayahu said, do not end there.
“As an added bonus, the cost of filaments for the printers will be covered completely by ESG, which means students won’t have to pay anything at all to 3D print,” he wrote.
Engineering sophomore Cameron Rosen welcomed the idea of the expanded capabilities to what he considers an already exceptional facility.
“I think the current 3-D lab is a terrific resource and I’m happy to hear about an upgrade,” Rosen said. “I think they do a great job and I look forward to seeing the expansion when I have 3-D printing needs.”