Working during a reno

Well, I never really believed the office part of the reno would be done exactly on time. Looks like it will take two weeks, rather than just the one week we all took off and closed the office.
As such, the staff are camped out amongst our haphazardly boxed office supplies and records.

Here's Juliet valiantly checking her email at the one internet-connected computer!

It's all for the good, however, as the result will be a better workspace for the staff.

We are adding two private office spaces, which will mean (for me) I can talk to students in private when they come for advice or support, and for our bookkeeper, she can have some quiet and order in a room also used for Executive and staff meetings.

Here's a peek at the main GSS office thus far:

This is the view in from the door. Directly ahead students will see the person to talk to, and there will now be a waiting area for students to sit down if there is a line.

Perhaps we should get a video game terminal in the waiting room like my son's dentist?

One thing about this renovation, you can really see how dirty our office carpet is. Yech!

Renovations update

IQ has been closed since mid-May. I thought it would be interesting to have some before, during and after shots during the renovations. These were taken by Al (the GSS Food and Beverage Manager) a week after we closed, midway through a big cleanup.

I don't think many people who eat at IQ realize just how small the kitchen is right now--and how excited we are for it to increase in size.

Contractors interested in bidding on the job have been coming through and whenever we give them the tour they are shocked at how tiny it is. Designed to nuke fish sticks and make nachos, this kitchen was certainly not meant to make the wide ranging menu our kitchen staff create daily.

After we closed, Al (the manager) and Pete (the sous chef) spent a week pulling out equipment and cleaning it up for resale.

And now we wait... but just for one more day. On Thursday, June 5 there will be an "opening of the tenders"--a formal meeting where bids from various contractors (we hope) are opened and reviewed to make sure all is in order. The GSS Executive will attend the opening of the tenders and then meet to decide on which bid to accept, and also how much to spend on related capital changes. I won't breath easily until we have sealed a deal, and I know it is within budget!

All going well, the crowbars are out on Monday June 9, and the old IQ kitchen will start coming apart.

Building expansion goes ahead

At the February 26 Special General Meeting, grad students held a two hour discussion about options for expansion.
Architect Carl Peterson was there to answer questions about his proposed design, and then members of the GSS exec fielded questions about financing options.
In the end, members have decided to expand the kitchen, as well as make some minor changes to the offices, but not to create the student lounge proposed in the expansion plan.
The executive was empowered to borrow up to $100,000 if needed, but the goal is to pay for the rennovation out of existing savings.
Full minutes will follow soon.

Building Expansion SGM--NEW MOTIONS and UPDATED PLAN

After discussions with our auditors regarding our initial plan and one
more week spent with our planning, the Executive have some revised motions
and a revised building expansion plan for your consideration at the
Special General Meeting.

We are seeking your assistance in letting people know about these changes.

The main change is that the auditors have recommended paying off
expansion longer, and not using as much of the Rainy Day Building Fund
for the first payment, thus leaving more funds available as a
contingency.Although this increases interest costs over our original
proposal, it reduces the risk to the society. This proposal would
increase the money borrowed to $400,000 maximum. The original motion and
the new one are both on the motions page (see link below).

The executive also costed some additional options for comparison at the
meeting in response to feedback from members--there are now three options
reflected in the expansion plan (link below): Option 1: total renovation
as in architect's proposal, Option 2: Only renovating the kitchen, and
Option 3: only adding the Student common room addition (and doing the
required kitchen upgrade without expansion). The budget and
costs/benefits for each option is listed with each in the proposal
document.

Note that the motion for borrowing $400,000 applies to Option 1, the
others require less borrowing (or none).

All this information can be found through the GSS website page on the
special general meeting.
Please have a look here, and encourage others in your department to have
a look too!

http://gss.uvic.ca/SGMinfo.htm

*** it was pointed out to me that in the 2nd last slide of the "plan" I
did not update the total expense when copying the slide. This will be
corrected, but for now, please note the error!***

I hope you are having a good reading break. Feel free to send any
questions. The office is closed but I am around. gssmgr (at) uvic.ca

Stacy