Marshall Student Center (MSC) administration and the Student Government (SG) Relations Committee conducted a student survey from Oct. 8-19 to gather suggestions to replace the former Computer Store location. 

The Computer Store closed in August of last year due to low visitation and sales, as previously reported by The Oracle. The space is located on the first floor at MSC 1506, across from the Print Center.

Students were asked what “Category of Service” they would like to see added to the MSC, and for open-ended suggestions based on the chosen category. There were nine options to choose from, including “Health/Beauty,” “Academic Resource,” “Fitness/Recreation,” “Gaming,” “Food,” “Lounge/Free Space,” “Basic Retail” and “Other.”

“At this point, the pure interest of the survey is to find out what the students want,” said Matt Marshall, director of the MSC. “We’ll take interest from outside vendors, plus what the students want, plus the capabilities within the space, and that’s when we’ll make a decision.”

The survey was distributed through the MSC’s social media pages. In total, 138 students responded to the survey, with almost 30 percent preferring “Lounge/Free Space” over the other categories. The least popular category of service was “Academic Resource,” with only 3.6 percent of students indicating it as their preference. 

Students suggested their own ideas, such as barber shops, quiet study areas, healthier food options, fitness areas and convenience stores.

The survey was conducted by the SG Relations Committee and the group met with MSC Communications and Marketing Officer Lisa Beebe on Oct. 1 to discuss the results. 

“We might run another survey to narrow down the options after we determine what is feasible to put in that spot,” Relations Committee Chair Alliyah Edwards said. 

The next step for the MSC is to determine if what students want can fit within the space. 

“At this point, we’ll go through all the information, and see what they found,” Marshall said. “We’ll get back together, we’ll review the information at that point, and check on feasibility.

“If we decide, for example, that we need something in there that won’t require any changes to the space, we’d have to go out and put out a request to be able to see who’s interested and review vendors, and work out whether we’ll use auxiliary services or do it internally, or however we end up making it happen.” 

Marshall said while the administration hasn’t made any final decisions, he knows the change will be swift.

“There’s a lot of steps that need to take place, so it’d be hard for me to give an exact time frame, but the best thing I can say is that we’ll get it done as soon as possible.”