While many aspects of the Gustie student experience have remained the same over the decades, one thing that has absolutely shifted is what they receive in the mail.
“In 1998, when the building first opened up, post office boxes were the trend,” says Travis Jordan, Director of Facilities here at Gustavus.
With the advent of email, social media, and other digital communication, the days of the hand-written letter have gone by the wayside. Gone too are loved ones sending a crisp twenty dollar bill in a card, replaced by a few clicks on a screen.
Instead, students receive a lot more packages from online shopping and family and friends, which meant that there was an opportunity to modernize the campus post office. “A lot of the trends that we’ve seen across the nation are locker pickups,” says Travis. “You would get an email saying ‘hey, your mail arrived, please go to bin 72’ and you enter a code and get your packages from there.”
This new vision required moving away from the large P.O. Box space to more of a back-end model so that employees can best serve students. The new post office space had their soft launch at the beginning of July to help get employees acclimated to the new system and processes.
In addition to the modernization of the post office, there was an opportunity to refresh The Book Mark, providing new lighting, new carpet, and new transaction counters for the campus bookstore. “We’ve changed the orientation of how you enter the store. It’s going to be open and front facing,” says Travis. “I think the interaction and the experience that our students will have in those two spaces will absolutely be enhanced.”
With the streamlining of the mail pickup process and a new storefront for The Book Mark, it created an exciting opportunity to create a new gathering space for students and employees. “Working with architects and others on campus, we asked ‘how can we open this space up? How can we infuse a little bit of energy and create a hangout space for people to gather?’”
The Facilities team conducted a survey, where the overwhelming majority of responses included students wanting a place to hang out and get a cup of coffee. Therefore, the renovation includes an expansion of the Courtyard Café area, which provides a place where students and employees can recharge, relax, and meet friends for a pick-me-up.
The new space takes inspiration from Swedish coffee shops. It will feature a double-sided fireplace, Scandinavian-inspired furnishings, and plenty of seating options as well as plenty of electrical outlets for visitors to plug in.
Travis is excited about the new Courtyard Café experience, and is looking forward to seeing how students and employees use the space. “I think it all further drives home what it means to be a part of the Gustavus community,” he says. “It provides that wellbeing aspect, giving everyone a place to unwind, to study, to hang out, to have a coffee, to unplug for a minute.”
President Volin agrees with Travis’ statement, as these renovations tie into fostering the whole student experience. “I am so excited to see this project become reality and the role it will play in fostering student wellbeing, community, and belonging,” he says.
Travis anticipates the space being used by faculty and staff as well. “Faculty and staff already use the area, this is just going to make it a busier and more happening place. We increased the seating by quite a bit. We’re going to have a projector there to invite some different types of programming.”
“It’s for our students. We can build it, but they will make it their own.”
