In a galaxy long ago and far away, university students made dormitories their domiciles. Outside of classrooms, dorm rooms, as well as libraries and cafeterias, served as campus social hubs. Those days seem as dated as the original Star Wars technology. Increasingly, state-of-the art student union buildings are now the epicenters of social collegiate life.
Housing essential student services such as academic counseling, registration, and financial aid, student union buildings also offer individual and group study spaces, cafeterias, cafes, coffee shops, banks, bookstores, convenience shops, and even movie theaters and bowling alleys. They are the locations where students go to see and be seen. And for the institutions themselves, they provide a key element to student retention and recruitment.