By Annette Kirk/campus editor

As its student population grows, SE Campus facilities continue to expand with a new student area, which is expected to be ready by June.

During the summer, the board of trustees granted SE the final allotment of the Sticky Space fund, which was the money given to each campus to provide places for students to sit in the hallways, charging areas and outside seating environments.

President Bill Coppola, the Sustainability Committee and the Campus Beautification Committee developed what was once part of SE’s original plans and evolved it into a place for students to use.

“The original plans were to connect the ESCT building and ESEE using a skybridge, but that didn’t happen,” said Michael Cinatl, SE assistant to the president. “When we received the last of the allotment of the fund, we decided to complete the skybridge but turn it into an area where students may utilize the space.”

The space will be called the Learning Commons, and inside plans have not been finalized, but Cinatl said students will have places to congregate, study, work on projects and walls they can write on with dry erase markers.

“There are over 13,000 students here at SE,” Coppola said. “We were running out of places where students could study and work that wasn’t loud.”

The allotment for the Learning Commons is roughly $2.5 million, Cinatl said. Boka Powell is the designated architect firm, and Byrne is the construction company.

The floating pathway will double as an awning where students can work outside underneath the area, Cinatl said. Sticky spaces will also be added to the garden area so students can gather and sit and enjoy the gardens.