Welcome new and returning students! Here is some information that can help you navigate this big, varied and sometime confusing campus.
First, you need a student ID. They can be used to get a student discount at eateries, businesses and even some clubs and bars. And if there is ever a lockdown on campus, you will need it to show your status on campus. It’ free, so go over to the Arts, Sciences and Technology into the Tower portion. It’s the tallest building on campus and nearest to the West parking lot. On the first floor you’ll see the Welcome Center by the entrance doors. The people behind the desk are students too! Don’t be nervous to say hi or ask them any questions about campus. They will take your picture and issue your laminated ID card. The hours of operation are noon to 5 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays.
You may also want to rent a locker. There are lockers all over the campus, but most are in the Student Services Center building, that’s the same building where the Bookstore, the Registrars, Financial Aid and the Cougar Cave cafeteria are located. You need to go the Bursar’s Window by the Cougar Cave and pay $5 to rent a locker for the semester. After you pay, they’ll give you a receipt, which you will bring room SSC L287 on the second floor, where Theresa B. Grout will take your receipt and assign you a locker. You must provide your own lock.
Make sure to “clean out your locker when you’re done using it,” said Grout.
Between classes, if you want to work out you can at the Fitness Center. It is for student use only and covered by the Student Activities Fee you paid when you registered for classes! It’s in the SSC building next to the office of the Student Activities Director Michelle Nickerson (you should be getting emails from her about activities on campus) and the office of the Student Government Association, room number is SSC L153. If you are standing in front of the Admissions/Registrar’s office, take a right, walk through a short hall then and at the end take a left and the Fitness Center is right in front of you. To be able to use the Fitness Center you must fill out some paperwork at the desk in front. The hours of operation are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Finally, we have the Cougar Pantry in SSC L149, right down the hall from the Fitness Center. The pantry is for all students as a way for no one on campus to be hungry. They take donations and the local Stop & Shop helps too. No student deserves to be hungry on or off campus, so take what you need for you and your family. You also don’t need to fill out any paperwork to use the pantry. The hours of operation are Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. But the pantry is also available outside of those hours, basically any time the campus is open. If you get there and the door is closed head to the Campus Police office, around the corner from the Bookstore, across from Financial Aid, and they’ll let you in.
That’s just a tiny bit of what is available to enjoy at Manchester. You can also join a student club – like ICE News, ICE Radio or ICE TV (shameless self plug) – or get involved in Student Government, visit the Hans Weiss Newspace Gallery and get inspired by the art, stop by the Library on the first floor of the Library Resource Center building and get your craft on at the MakerSpace and so much more.
Visit https://ctstate.edu/locations/manchester to find out more about what CT State Manchester has to offer.
