Student Senate representatives Steven Ansorge and Katrina Willis are no strangers to amplifying the voices of students at Madison College.

“People will stop me in the hallway and say ‘hey, Katrina, I have a concern,” Willis explains. “People walk up to me and will say ‘this is a concern I have,’ because they know I’m gonna take that and pass it on to people that can actually do something to change it.”

Willis and Ansorge work hard not only to have the voices of Madison College students be heard, but also represented, which is why they both are involved with the school’s 10-year facilities master plan.

The facilities master plan is a collection of different projects to be completed within 10 years that would better the buildings and facilities that students use at all of the Madison College campuses.

The facilities master plan is “a 10-year vision of how the college will look in 10 more years,” explains Mike Stark, director of facilities at Madison College.

Willis describes the 10-year facilities master plan as an “opportunity for students to express their wants and needs for the spaces in the colleges over the next 10 years.”

Whether students want more accessibility to gender neutral bathrooms, meditation rooms at the regional campuses, or more room for students parking, the facilities master plan is the place to voice the desires that students have about the buildings at Madison College.

“(Students) have a wonderful opportunity once every 10 years to make a difference in how we build our college,” explains Ansorge.

The student body can voice their opinions about the facilities via a survey being sent out the week of Oct. 16. Questions will not only be about different things that could improve the campuses as a whole, but also about how each student utilizes the campus already.

Though Willis notes that not everything voiced on the survey will come to fruition, it is still a powerful platform for students to have their voices be heard. “Filling out a survey changes things,” explains Willis

The college sees student input as an integral part developing the facilities master plan. The questions on the survey are created “with a lot of student input,” according to Stark. Many of the questions on the survey were a direct result of a student on the facilities plan and investment counsel raising a concern that non-students have previously not considered.

The six students on the facilities plan and investment counsel will continue to aid with the creation of the facilities master plan even after the survey has been finished.

Though many current students at Madison College might not experience the changes that happen from this 10-year facilities master plan, the plan “will make an impact on the students of tomorrow,” Ansorge explains. “Our little brothers, little sisters, our kids, will be influenced by the facilities that we build now.”

Students can participate in the survey and have their voices be heard by responding to the survey that will be sent to their student email during the week of Oct. 16.