Denious and Jolliffe halls will once again be bustling with activity, but instead of housing students, they will be undergoing construction to serve as department and administration buildings.
Before construction can begin however, the Baker University Board of Trustees has to approve the plans for both buildings when it meets Oct. 24 and 25, Provost Randy Pembrook said.
“What we’re doing now is working with architects to see timelines, cost and try to get as much done as soon as we can,” Pembrook said of the committee working on the plans.
“We want to have discussions with the board to see if they think these are logical steps. If they agree that this plan makes sense, we would go ahead and start construction immediately after.”
Pembrook said the premise for the changes evolved from the idea of providing a one-stop shop for students to take care of issues relating to departments like Financial Aid and the Records and Registration Office, which are on opposite sides of campus now, in a centralized location with similar departments.
“In Denious we’re imagining these large areas that are kind of open, and instead of everybody being in an office the way they are now with the individual departments, we’re going to knock out most of those walls in the entire building and just create these large areas so that it feels very open and inviting,” he said.
This means Records and Registration, Financial Aid, Enrollment Management, Marketing, the mail room and the Business Office will all be moving out of Constant Hall and into Denious.
Freshman Leah Doromal said the one-stop shop will make it easier for new and prospective students to finalize paperwork and other things if they don’t have to worry about leaving the building to go to the next office they have to visit.
“I think it’s a good idea and will save time,” she said. “I had a hard time finding (offices in different buildings) and I know a lot of other freshmen had a hard time finding (offices), too.”
Louise Cummings-Simmons, vice president of enrollment management, said putting services in proximity to each other that deal directly with students on a regular basis will really help students.
“We’re going to serve our students in a way that is really focused and really creating an opportunity for them not to run all around campus but to be able to go and accomplish two or three tasks in the same building,” she said.
Plus, Cummings-Simmons said it would be nice having the mail room in the same building as the Enrollment Management and Financial Aid offices, which conduct a lot of bulk rate mailings.
“To have all of that just right there will be a tremendous partnership,” she said.
With Denious serving as the one-stop shop, Jolliffe will house the administration that deals specifically with all four Baker schools including University President Pat Long, the provost, Human Resources, Advancement and Financial Services. Rand Ziegler, vice president and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Associate Dean of CAS Rob Flaherty will be moving to Mabee Hall around the first week in October. The other people in Constant Hall won’t change spaces until renovations with Denious and Jolliffe have been completed.
“The end gain as it relates to Constant is to have it online hopefully as early as fall of 2009 as a classroom/office space,” Pembrook said, with a minimum of three classrooms planned.
Pembrook said the exterior of the renovated buildings may have minor cosmetic touchups with the exception of Jolliffe.
“Whenever you make a major renovation you have to make sure they are compliant with (the American with Disabilities Act) requirements,” he said.
Therefore, Jolliffe will require an elevator to be installed.
Pembrook said in order to pay for the renovations, the university will be gathering donations and borrowing funding. Overall, Pembrook said the university is hoping the changes will work out well.
“I really hope we can make this happen,” he said.
