Monica Carling
Published: January 25, 2006
What goes on in Building 5? What exactly is the Student Center? These are the questions of numerous students around campus, be it freshmen or veterans. The answer is expansive, but then again so is what the Student Center has to offer.
The Student Center includes everything from the bookstore to the Career Center. The Career Center will in the near future be known as the Career and Counseling Center. Students will be able to meet with counselors and register for classes online using the computers in the lab. The Career Center is open for students to be able to come in and take interest and personality tests to help them pinpoint what their career goals are and the various fields that those ambitions correspond with.
“As soon as we opened the Career Lab we had a different group of students coming in and really start utilizing the area,” said Dennis Reynolds, coordinator for student leadership and activities at Pensacola Junior College. “A huge asset available to students is the computer lab. Here students can come and do class work or research.”
The only place on campus where students can come and get food is located within the Student Center as well. Here students can enjoy the budget-friendly cuisine and sit, read, or study. The cafeteria is also where the Student Activities office holds a majority of its events, such as the free Welcome Back Breakfast, which was held at the beginning of the semester. Notice of these events can be found on bulletin boards around the campus as well as in the Corsair.
Down the hall from the Career and Counseling Center are the Student Activities offices, which offer a host of events. They encompass all the clubs at PJC, the SGA (Student Government Association), the various volunteer programs and all campus extracurricular activities. These offices are open from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. On certain days, though, students can find counselors in the Career Center until 6 p.m. Students are always welcome to stop by at any time with questions, no matter what the topic, and office personnel will be glad to either give them a direct answer or find someone who can.
“I think there are going to be more students here in the future taking advantage of the Student Center because the campus is finally going wireless,” Reynolds said. “People can bring their computers in and have access to free WiFi on campus.”
Reynolds was in contact with schools all over Florida and found that PJC was one of only a small number of schools that did not yet offer WiFi .
“That was one thing that I really wanted to see happen, and it’s happening right now,” he said.
The office for the Director of Student Life is located next door. They handle everything from student grievances to discipline. Located within the Student Center also is the Police Office, where students can pick up parking decals and also find the lost and found.