About a half-dozen top administrators will sit on a committee devoted to increasing non-academic space on campus, after students criticized University leaders for pushing the issue aside.

The task force, which will be finalized by next month, will look to carve out more student areas on campus as spaces open up, likely meeting monthly, Student Association president Ashwin Narla said.

Narla said the task force will help decide on upgrades for residence halls, such as community space in the basement of Mitchell Hall after it is no longer used as public health and health science labs. Those classrooms will move to the public health school’s new building when it opens next spring.

Narla said he pushed for the committee to ensure students’ concerns about study space are considered a high priority.

Narla, who has spent most of his tenure trying to secure more student space on campus, said he was frustrated at the slow, uneven responses from administrators on his proposals.

Last fall, Narla and Student Association executive vice president Abby Bergren sent a 22-page report to top administrators, asking for 24-hour access to academic buildings and renovations in the Marvin Center’s third floor terrace for more meeting rooms. The officials agreed to just a handful of the proposals in the long-term.

He said the committee will be unique because it will include eight students and hopefully bridge the gap between top administrators and the students who say they don’t have enough space to study or meet with their student organizations on campus.

Six of the student members will be from the Student Association, while the other two will be graduate student fellows working for University offices.

Senior Associate Vice President for Operations Alicia Knight said she looks forward to working with student leaders. Though the University hasn’t officially decided which administrators will sit on the task force, Narla said Knight will likely be on the committee, along with Provost Steven Lerman and Executive Vice President and Treasurer Lou Katz.

“This engagement assists us in designing buildings that include the types of spaces that students seek and allows information sharing to educate students on the many considerations that go into design and construction of a new building or project,” Knight said in an email.

The University’s previous task forces, such as those focusing on career services, included just one or two students. The Innovation Task Force added six students to the committee in 2009.

Narla said the University’s “top-down approach” has shut out students from major administrative conversations on campus.

“I hate using the word [task force] because it sounds so bureaucratic, and it is, but the importance of it is what it allows,” Narla said. “It allows students and administrators to be at the priority setting stage.”

The University has created at least seven task forces since University President Steven Knapp came to campus in 2007, including the Urban Food Task Force, the Innovation Task Force and the Career Services Task Force.

There have also been task forces dedicated to assessing the sexual harassment case at Pennsylvania State University and global women’s issues. When Knapp first arrived, he convened several task forces, like the Task Force on Sustainability that led to the creation of the Office of Sustainability and the Presidential Task Force Review of Campus Safety and Security.