The Observer, August 29, 2008
Volume XLI, Issue 1
Admissions moves office to Wolstein Hall, ousting students
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In an effort to utilize university spaces most effectively, the undergraduate admission office is in the process of relocating to Iris S. and Bert L. Wolstein Hall from its current home, Tomlinson Hall.
Wolstein Hall, located on Bellflower Road on the north side of campus, is a building with history dating to 1910. It most recently housed the Weatherhead business school undergraduate administration staff. In addition, student groups such as Beta Alpha Psi, Omicron Delta Epsilon, and Alpha Kappa Psi used spaces for meetings and offices.
"I've always said the admissions office is the so-called front door of the university. It's really important to point out we always had the students' best interests in mind. Case is a first-class university, and we needed to provide that image," said vice president of enrollment Randall Dieke.
Several sources confirmed that the discussion about converting Wolstein Hall into the admissions office began much earlier than the announcement in late spring.
"Space and efficient usage of resources is an ongoing conversation on the university level. Mohan (Dean Reddy of Weatherhead School of Management) expressed an interest that really represented a win-win on both sides," said Dieke.
Although Weatherhead loses a building, it had been a goal of Reddy's since his acceptance of deanship to pull together both the undergraduate and graduate Weatherhead schools, according to Weatherhead associate dean Julia Grant.
On the other side of the coin, undergraduate admissions receives a recently renovated building placed in the middle of what many students and staff believe is a more beautiful part of campus.
"It's no secret that Tomlinson had its share of problems. Maintenance was always a resource problem, not to mention the need for complete renovation. It's just an OK building, not to mention the cafeteria in the basement. It just doesn't represent our campus as a whole," said Dieke.
Many students who used the space in Wolstein initially suspected foul play when they heard about the changes. Administrators maintain that they informed students at the appropriate time.
"A lot of the discussions into the spring remained unresolved; we wanted to make sure the Wolstein family's wishes remained intact. When we received the final go-ahead around the last day of graduation we e-mailed several leaders of student groups hoping they would still be in town," said Grant.
A planned open forum on May 19 served to explain the decision to student leaders and how the space in Wolstein will be replaced in the revamped Peter B. Lewis Building, but many students had already left Cleveland for the summer.
"They said it was just bad timing. Though I had to drive from Pennsylvania because I felt if I didn't say anything no one else would," said third-year accounting major Danielle Bly.
Bly also created a Facebook group titled "Win Back Wolstein!" At its peak, the group had over 80 supporters. It encouraged supporters to provide a unified position at the meeting.
"To their credit, we did get to ask all of our questions and explain our thoughts at the open forum," said Bly.
Major concerns about the loss of Wolstein from the student side included the lack of large meeting spaces for student groups, PBL's limited hours and security, spaces being filled with graduate students, and the distance between Wolstein Hall and several offices integral to admissions, like financial aid.
"We've known for a long time that space [in PBL] wasn't being used up to its potential. The administrators in Wolstein have moved and have plenty of room. We tried to communicate with the students the availability of spaces and study rooms for them to use. The renovations to PBL will provide an even better picture of the facilities that are available," said Grant.
Although the plans for the move were finally communicated to the students, not everyone was convinced.
"It's not that I'm displeased with the result, it's just they did it in a way that didn't provide much input [from the students]," said Undergraduate Student Government president Myles Nickolich.
Because the students were kept in the dark, it bred misunderstanding among the students. Many believed their study spaces were gone for good once Wolstein Hall was converted.
"We took inventories, comparing PBL vs. Wolstein [during the meeting]. PBL is just an awkward building to begin with. I'm a third-year student and I was surprised at some of the study areas she [Grant] showed us," said Bly.
With study areas mostly resolved, the relocation closer to the North Residential Village, where first-years have traditionally lived, seemed like a natural next step to administrators thinking about Undergraduate Admissions.
"Not that Tomlinson is necessarily a poor building, but we felt a need to let [prospective students] know this is a great place. With tours still going to see the rest of the campus, there wasn't much down side [from the view of the admissions department]. Sometimes not everyone wants change. But in this case it was good change," said Dieke.
As school starts, admissions remains in Tomlinson pending some final touch ups of Wolstein Hall. Admissions should complete the relocation to Wolstein by October, but student opinion remains uncertain.
"Knowing why they did it, it's understandable how the administration acted. We understand the sensitive situation working with the Wolsteins having to approve anything before changes were made. As far as I'm concerned, time will tell. Once both moves are completed and the changes are done, we can reevaluate how the situation was handled and its impacts on students," said Nickolich.
