On the cusp of midterms, demanding academic schedules for music students at Grand Valley State University have many voicing concerns over the lack of available practice space in the Performing Arts Center.

“We have very few classrooms and spaces for class or rehearsal, and sometimes they aren’t sufficient facilities for our goals as a department,” said Adam Brennan, a sophomore music education major. “And as more faculty are being recruited, practice rooms are being converted into offices, rooms for specific instrumentalists, etc. This makes it very difficult to be able to reach practice requirements or goals on a weekly basis, as the times when rooms are available don’t necessarily match up with one’s availability to practice.”

Danny Phipps, chair of the music department, said the conversion of practice spaces to faculty offices or other specialty rooms was not ideal, but still necessary.

“Do I have any more plans to convert what we have in the PAC for more academic programs?” Phipps said. “No, but I didn’t in the first place. I would have never taken that space unless I had no other choice.”

Phipps said the growing concern is not unique to the student body – faculty in the music department as well as the administration have all been advocating for the same goal, but a hierarchy of construction needs and a lack of funding from Lansing has the issue of practice space at the PAC lower on the ladder than other building projects currently in the works.

“There’s been some building that if you’re a student here, it doesn’t seem like you are being considered,” Phipps said. “But the building that has been going on have been buildings with revenue, like dorms or places to eat.”

James Moyer, assistant vice president for Facilities Planning, said GVSU always considers student concerns.

“The University takes student concerns very seriously, as students are our reasons for existing,” he said.

With other building projects like the new William H. Seidman building fueled with private funding, and little to no money coming in from Lansing for building construction, Moyer said the university reviews current space conditions and notes the area of greatest need. He said the current Mary Idema Pew Library construction projects caps the list of building concerns since replacing a current library designed for only 8,000 people has a wider impact on the student body.

With that said, Moyer said the PAC is certainly not on the bottom of the priority list.

“Providing and retaining student study space has been a priority in the Performing Arts Center and the university as a whole,” he said. “We will continue to work on solutions for the music practice space and continue to be extraordinarily proud of our student musicians’ accomplishment under what we know are less than ideal conditions.”

Although space under Murray Living Center has been designated for additional practice spaces, Brennan said the combination of cold weather and fragile instruments during the commute from the PAC to the practice rooms at Murray often leads to expensive damages.

However, Phipps said challenges like Brennan’s are among ones that musicians face on a regular basis.

“We give a lot of concerts in Cook-DeWitt, and it’s less of a distance to walk to Cook-DeWitt than it is to walk over to Murray,” he said. “I’m not denigrating what they are saying and I’m not demeaning it; it’s just that I can’t justify the university putting that ahead of something that they don’t have at all. They can’t put a science lab in the basement of Murray, but it’s a nice space if they can let us practice there. And that’s what they’ve done.”

Currently, a first-come-first-serve scheduling system is in place for the practice rooms at the PAC in an effort to maintain as much efficient use as possible. Phipps said in the mean time, students who have the most difficulties with the Murray commute need to be mindful of the sign-ups to ensure a spot in the PAC.

“If that’s the case then you need to be sure you’re first in line to sign up,” he said. “We have a policy for sign-up and the designated date on the first week of each semester; there’s a time and it begins at 8 a.m., and kids start lining up early so they can be sure they’re in the PAC.”

With 92 percent of the music department contained in the PAC, Phipps said GVSU measures up well against many other universities that spread departments through more than just two buildings.

“So Grand Valley, they’re doing the best they can,” he said. “It’s not perfect; it’s not what we want to have in the end, but for now it is at least affording them a space that’s a nice space to practice in. All I can keep doing is advocating.”

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