Let me tell you one story that’s stuck with me from my Research Commons experience:

I was at the old bus loop (remember it? before it was bulldozed by construction?) waiting for the 84 one day, and two women were walking in my direction. One of them spotted me and started walking faster. “This woman!” she said enthusiastically to her friend. “This woman saved my life!” She came closer and clapped me on the shoulder. “Thanks so much – you’re a lifesafer!” And then they walked on.

This woman was a PhD student I’d worked with in the Research Commons, helping her with the final formatting of her thesis before she sent it to Grad Studies. It may seem like a simple thing, but time and again I’ve met with students at that point in their grad school experience who are stressed, who don’t know how to navigate the system, who can’t ask their supervisors because they don’t know that part of the process, and who just need someone to talk to who understands what they’re going through.

Those people are in the Research Commons.

Usually we meet one-on-one with students in a small computer lab on the second floor of Koerner, trying as much as we can not to disturb the other students who are using it. But we’ve been dreaming for years of what it would be like to have two floors of research-focused, grad-student-centric space on floors 4 and 5. Then it wouldn’t just be dedicated people making the Reseach Commons work; it would be dedicated space.

If the senior admin wants to start helping grad students with their thesis formatting – which really means helping them get ready for one of the biggest moments of their grad student career, complete with stress, anxiety, and sometimes tears – then sure, they can share that space with us.

If not…well, they’ve already got offices where they don’t do that, so they might as well stay there.