The Campus Life Committee has decided to increase the amount of study space available to students during finals starting Dec. 4, according to Student Union Director of Community Advocacy Jenna Brofsky '10. Director of Student Activities Stephanie Grimes wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that extra tables and chairs will be placed in the Shapiro Campus Center television lounge and in the Atrium. The Campus Center Art Gallery will also be available as a study space with additional tables and chairs. All additional study spaces will be open 24 hours during finals.

Additionally, the computer library, the first-floor library and Conference Room D on the third floor will be available for studying. As always, the building will be accessible by Brandeis identification card 24 hours a day, Grimes wrote.

The decision was made at a Campus Life Committee meeting on Nov. 6. Grimes and Student Activities Advisor Sarah Richardson originally made the suggestion for the additional study space, Brofksy said. Brofsky and Grimes then researched how to convert the campus center space into a suitable study environment.

The conversion of space in the campus center will not cost the University any extra money, as the tables and chairs will be taken from other buildings on campus, Brofsky said. If more furniture is needed, Campus Life will consider renting or purchasing additional chairs, according to Brofsky.

"In previous years, the Shapiro Campus Center has had extended hours staffed by our Campus Center Team (our student staff that work in the building)," Grimes wrote. "This year because of tighter student employment budgets, we needed to not offer these extended hours. We knew going into this year that this might be troublesome to our community during the stressful finals time."

"Students are always complaining about lack of study space," Brofsky told the Justice, "especially late at night and during finals. We're going to use this as a pilot to see if the extra tables and chairs work and if we need to add more for next semester."

"I'm sure further discussions will happen next semester about what we can do to offer more space, but there are no concrete plans," Richardson wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

The Campus Life Committee does not intend to make the additional study space a permanent fixture during nonexam periods, as these rooms are needed for other uses throughout the year. "We are cautious about dedicating additional spaces in the building during the full semester, when this building is used so heavily for programmatic purposes, club life, and socializing," Grimes wrote.

"[The campus center] is a busy building in the evening," Richardson wrote, so a permanent conversion "of the public areas into study spaces isn't the most ideal utilization of space during the school year. We're a campus center, not a library."

The extra space in the campus center is one of several locations available to students during finals period. Brofsky said that the main library, the Gerstenzang Science Library, Polaris Lounge in North Quad and Shapiro Lounge in Massell Quad are all good choices for studying. "During finals the library gets crazy," she told the Justice. "We also recognize not all students like studying in the library."

Brofsky and Student Union President Andy Hogan '11 both said that overcrowding on campus is an issue related to the lack of sufficient study space during finals.

Both graduate and undergraduate enrollment has increased in recent years, and the University plans to add 400 undergraduates by 2014, according to a Nov. 11 Justice article.

"I have heard complaints about the limited amount of [study] space," Hogan wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

"I am worried about overcrowding issues. I feel that study space is yet another service that needs to be increased as the student body increases in size. [The Student Union is] proactively working on this before the problem gets too bad."

"The addition of extra tables and chairs to [the] campus center will be beneficial to students because it will give them more room," Brofsky said. "I hope that Student Union and the administration can continue working together to serve the needs of the student."

Some students voiced their opinions about study space on campus.

"The most annoying thing about the study space available on campus during finals has been that in past years, the library hasn't been open 24 hours during study days," said Ellen Abramowitz '11.

"I think that there's enough study space on campus," said Anna Jursik '11. "Even if they added more tables and chairs in Shapiro, I think it would still be too loud for me to study there.