To help cut the university budget by 10 percent in the next two years Student Affairs is relocating offices eliminating some administrative positions and merging Student Activities with Campus Recreation. Dean of Student Affairs Mark Davis said he hopes the changes will lower costs while improving student services.
Students will return in the fall to find that nine of the 12 offices within Student Affairs currently located near the Sandbar have moved locations according to Davis who also said that plans are still tentative.
Several offices including Intercultural Affairs the Student Government Association Campus Recreation the Housing Office and most student organizations will move into the HAWC.
The Counseling Center will move from the Rho parking lot portables to the Tyler Campus Center offices where Student Employment is now located. Student Employment will move to the former Student Affairs office near the Sandbar.
Despite the reasons necessitating the decision Davis said he expects the changes to be beneficial.
“Reallocation has been healthy for us because it has forced us to think fresh Davis said. I’ve taken my lead from some things that President Benton said [in asking for changes]. I liked the way he framed it – that we can’t lose sight of the university’s reputation and the progress that we’re making.”
SGA President Hunter Stanfield said the main goal is to make the HAWC the hub of student life. Davis also stressed the benefits that could come from the offices’ proximity to each other.
“The idea is to make stronger working relationships between student organizations Davis said.
Plans are also in progress to transform the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Pavilion into a weight and fitness center for student athletes. The current Campus Recreation office will be renovated to hold the classes that now take place in the tennis pavilion.
In a meeting on Wednesday, Associate Dean of Student Affairs Tabatha Jones familiarized student workers with the coming renovations, while emphasizing that the plans are subject to change.
Devin Darnell, student manager of Campus Recreation, said he is looking forward to the changes.
I think it will be good for us because we’ll be more accessible to people said Darnell, a sophomore. We’ll be able to work with the other offices and put on joint things. [Now the Campus Recreation office] is so far away that people don’t know what we offer.”
Although students have not been greatly involved in the process of change Darnell is confident that the administration will incorporate students as plans become more concrete.
“As issues arise more of us that specialize will be asked to give our input about how to make everything work better Darnell said.
Potential challenges Darnell said he foresees include storage of the recreational equipment and the distance of the HAWC to the fitness facilities.