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The Imaginarium: Kutztown University's Program Resource Room
By Dino Martinez
Director of Greek Affairs
Miami University
Imagine your residence hall staff and hall government student leaders having access to a place to assist in the development of programs and activities for the residents in the residence halls. Imagine staff and hall government leaders having access to books, videos, materials, computers, presentation and recreational equipment, banner and construction paper, games and much more.
The Imaginarium is the outcome of the vision Kent Dahlquist and the Housing and Residence Life Team at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania had during the 1994-1995 academic year. The Imaginarium became a reality at the beginning of the 1995 Fall semester. It was my responsibility, as the Assistant Director for Programming and Leadership Development, to take the vision of a program resource room and develop the room to deliver services to the residence hall staff and the hall government leaders.
It was a modest beginning. The Imaginarium was located in a spare room in one of the residence halls. The room was tucked away from normal traffic, which meant the staff and residence hall leaders had to make a purposeful attempt to visit and take advantage of the Imaginarium resources.
At the beginning, used computer equipment, books, videos, paper, markers, and various other resources from difference locations within the residence hall program were available. Despite a humble start with little fanfare, the Imaginarium received positive feedback from the residence hall staff and student leaders.
By February of 1996, Kent Dahlquist, the Director of Housing and Residence Life, was interested in transforming the Imaginarium into a exciting place where staff and student leaders would be inspired to take planning and organizing programs and activities to a new and higher level. To facilitate this, the Imaginarium was moved to a new location. An interior design firm, specializing in designing office environments, was hired to transform our vision into an inviting facility for our staff and student leaders.
The Imaginarium's new location opened with new computers which provided word processing and desktop publishing programs for signs, banners, and program invitations. The facility was now equipped with a copier, poster printer, laminator, poster paints, and an Ellison letter-machine cutter. Various books and videos on multiple topics such as leadership, programming, health, diversity, and relationships were now available.
Today, the Imaginarium is staffed by residence hall students and it has improved and added to its list of services. Banner paper, with over eight different colors, is available for use. There are over 15 different colors of construction paper for various projects. Two Ellison letter-cutting machines are now in the Imaginarium with over 60 different shapes and objects for programming use. 'Pop-up' tents were purchased, along with water jugs, coolers, decorative plants, a portable sound system, and a digital camera. All are all available for the programming use of the hall staff and leaders.
For many of the hall staff and student leaders, the Imaginarium has become a favorite place to plan, organize, and prepare for programs, activities, and events.
For more information on the Imaginarium, please contact the Housing and Residence Life Office at (610) 683-4027.
About the Author
Dino Martinez was formerly the Assistant Director of Housing and Residence Life for Programming and Leadership Development at Kutztown University. He is currently the Director of Greek Affairs at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Kutztown University of Pennsylvania is a member of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education.