Very rarely are students not seen carrying around their phones. With this luxury however, students also carry around an impending problem: keeping it charged.

After receiving much feedback from students about ways to charge their phones throughout the day, SGA has decided to invest in charging tables that will be placed in the Kent Campus Center.

Senior Class President Marisa DeForest is looking forward to this new addition that will hopefully enhance the atmosphere of Kent.  

“This has been a project on our agenda for about four years now. Kent is a gathering place for students, so we want to make sure it has the proper amenities that a student or visitor might expect from a large, welcoming place,” DeForest said.  

SGA has ordered three charging stations, each with eight cables and two wireless charging spots for newer model phones. The total price for all three tables came to under $3,400 after shipping costs.

All stations are moveable, durable, can be plugged into normal outlets, and are included with options that will need no updating over the next several years. Additionally, the tables will not take up much space with their small size.

As for station locations, the spaces outside Black Box, Millie’s, and Au Bon Pain have been discussed as potential sites. Yet, this is something SGA will finalize once the charging tables have arrived.

“I think it is going to be trial and error for a while. We will try to determine the most logical location over time and if there is a need for more in other locations around campus,” Associate Dean of Students Rich Ramos said.

Ramos and SGA members researched different companies that could manufacture the kind of tables they were looking for. Student Body Vice President Jailyn Seabrooks said the longevity of the tables impacted SGA’s decision to buy them.

“In the end, the charging tables we decided to order were the most well-built and would last the longest. We wanted this project to be a more permanent solution and not just a cheap, temporary one,” Seabrooks said.

The funding for this project came out of SGA’s capital improvement budget, which is funded by the student activities fee that each student pays every year.

“When SGA has leftover funding from the student activities budget, it flows into a capital improvement fund which we use to complete projects for students. This budget is dedicated solely to making improvements our students want to see that are not necessarily the college’s top priority,” DeForest said.

These improvements have been quite noticeable. In the past, the fund has lead to the remodeling of the Holy Grounds Coffee Shop, hygiene products in the Kent public restrooms, more campus lighting and the fire pit addition between Kresge and Barker Residence Halls.

Some students do not feel the need the carry around phone chargers due to the small campus size. However, these stations will mainly target those who are in situations where they need to charge their phone quickly.

“This is a project from which many students would benefit, and would work to make life that much easier on campus. Our main goal with this project is to give the students something that will make their lives easier with a convenience that we find at airports and many public spaces,” DeForest said.

The charging tables have been ordered and SGA members believe they should arrive in approximately four-to-five weeks.

This initiative was requested by students. If there are any ideas for other improvement projects around campus, do not hesitate to contact an SGA individual. The full list of members can be found at www.simpsoncollegesga.com.