Southwest Studies at Colorado College

Baca Campus Reservation Policy

A definitive set of use priorities for the Baca campus was created by an extended form of the Southwest Studies committee (including faculty representing each division of Colorado College, senior staff, select administrators, and any other interested faculty and administration; this group was then titled the "Baca Committee." They met over a period of three years and formulated the following "Baca Policies and Procedures/Priority Usage Guidelines."

I. Priority Usage

1. 
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   CC classes receive first priority, and are booked on a "first come, first served" basis. A faculty, administrative, or staff advisor must accompany all student groups. These classes all receive an orientation given by the Baca manager. Reservations for courses may be made up to one year in advance. Because of increasing demand on very limited space, this one-year limit is strictly enforced. In order to allow a greater diversity of faculty/class visits to the Baca, a limit of one reservation per faculty member has been imposed. This does not include team-taught classes. (If there is more than one yearly request per faculty, those requests are wait listed, and are filled if no other single request is made for the time slot.
   
   1. Reservations are made through the Baca Manager.
2. Affiliated campus groups (e.g., Writing Center, Shove Council, ORC, International Students, etc.) have second priority. The Baca campus covers only the cost of housing. As with guideline "a," the group that is booked must have a regular orientation from the manager, and be accompanied by college faculty, administrator, or staff advisor. In-house (CC) conferences and departmental retreats come under this heading. (This was done to give organized student groups a greater feeling of equality and participation, particularly during non-academic space: during block breaks.)
3. Outside conferences, groups, or private visits (CC staff, administration, and faculty, etc.) shall have third use priority. These guests will be charged a fee determined by: 1) housekeeping costs; 2) utilities costs; 3) size of group; 4) season; 5) length of stay. Reservations in this category will be made on the first day of each block and will be accommodated (as in groups "a" and "b") according to "first come first served" and space available.

II. Orientations

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An informational orientation is required for all student classes and campus groups going to the Baca. This orientation includes logistical instruction (food, housing, transportation, immediate resources, crisis protocols, legal (Pathfinder) issues, and offers the opportunity for students and faculty to ask questions about the campus and surrounding area. It is given by the Baca manager and must be done no later than three working days prior to the group's scheduled departure. These orientations last anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the group and its familiarity with the use obligations.

III. Reservations and Cancellations

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Because of departmental scheduling of classes (this includes summer session classes), reservations are not made more than a year in advance. Demand is very high for a limited amount of space. The Baca can accommodate up to two classes at the same time, if one of the classes has no more than 18 students. Again, it is done on a" first come, first served" basis, and there is no such thing as permanent reservations or preferential treatment of certain courses, although some professors regularly make reservations for the same courses one year in advance. A wait-list is kept as necessary

Cancellations usually occur for three reasons: the weather, faculty illness, and inability of majority of the class to leave the Springs campus due to adjunct classes, sports, jobs, etc. Cancellations usually occur on very short notice, which makes for difficult replacement of wait-listed classes. However, many of these classes have chosen to go with this short notice.