Officials at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs want to move the school’s sustainability department from its dedicated house on campus to the nearby UCCS farm to create space for the school’s human resources department, sparking an outcry among some students who say they feel blindsided by the potential move.

The three-floor, 4,328-square-foot property also hosts clubs, events and programming for students throughout the academic year and serves as a hub for sustainability research and education, featuring student-led projects, research initiatives and real-world demonstrations of sustainable technology.

Isabella Polombo, the vice president of the school’s Student Government Association and the founder of Clyde’s Clothing Corner, a campus initiative that provides free clothing to students at the house, was especially concerned that she and other students weren’t informed about possibly having to relocate.

“That space means a lot to a lot of students,” said Polombo, who heard about the relocation plans at an April 9 student forum. “They’ve studied there, hosted their own events and it’s also been a space to go to process things for five minutes. So, a lot are frustrated that they made this decision without any student input.”

When she asked why the students didn’t hear about the school’s plans sooner, she said university officials told her that it wasn’t necessary to inform them at that time.

Stephanie Hanenberg, the school’s interim vice chancellor for enrollment management and student affairs, said discussions for the relocation began last fall to better utilize existing campus space while also cutting back on expenses.

The HR department is leased out in office buildings south of the campus across Austin Bluffs Parkway. The annual lease for the space is $137,000 and the department includes 12 full-time employees and between three and six students.

Hanenberg said the school explored various spaces on campus where there would be adequate space and parking for department employees, along with private spaces and processing space before zeroing in on the sustainability house. She added that the lease savings could be used to help sustain the campus farm, which doesn’t generate revenue.

Some of the student groups at the sustainability house will likely move elsewhere across campus based on need and feasibility. Hanenberg said a meeting with students to discuss these possibilities is scheduled for Tuesday, with a final decision coming shortly after.

“It is a prime option, but they’re finalizing the last steps and the discussion (Tuesday) will dictate some of that,” she said.

Hanenberg said most of these discussions were conducted internally to avoid “stressing anybody out if it wasn’t viable,” and that the sustainability department will work with the student groups and departments to determine the best fits across campus.

She admitted that she felt “horrible” about how some students found out about the developments, but added that others were thankful for their efforts to preserve the farm and house and avoid cuts to any of the programming that may be moved.

“And that’s what this is all about: preserving and growing what we have in creative ways and not cutting anything,” she said. “The hard part is, in order to do that, we have to make some hard choices.”

Still, Polombo isn’t convinced that the move is the best option for the students.

The proposed relocation is one of many potential changes as UCCS works to close a $27 million budget gap over the next five years, which will likely include tuition increases and staff and salary reductions. Polombo thinks changes to existing student options with delayed communication and limited student input are counterintuitive to increasing student recruitment and retention.

“It’s fundamentally frustrating,” she said. “Seeing people retire or get told to resign, departments are going to have to use fewer resources or fewer people to maintain the current experience and environment, where it’s going to be really hard to support students. It’s going to be hard to see these programs run.”

Across the campus, many were unaware of the potential move, but over 300 students, staff and faculty signed a Change.org petition started by Polombo, calling for the department and programming to stay in the current house. She said she also plans on presenting a resolution objecting to the recent actions taken by the university’s executive leadership team at the next student government meeting.