Services Building to be a One-Stop Shop

Growth at UT Dallas continues this week as students, faculty and staff usher in the start of construction on a 74,000-square-foot, $27 million Student Services Building at 11 a.m. on Thursday.   

The space will hold virtually all the departments that current students — and prospective students and their families — will need during the course of their relationship with the University, including: 

• The Bursar’s Office and Financial Aid.
• The Career Center.
• The Dean of Students.
• Enrollment Services and the Registrar.
• The Health and Counseling Centers.
• International Student Services.
• The Multicultural and Women’s Centers.
• Residential Life and Housing Operations.

“Currently, many of these offices are situated across campus,” said Darrelene Rachavong, vice president for Student Affairs.  “Getting them in one building is about helping our students quickly get back to more important things — like their studies and research.”

Rachavong added that the one-stop-shop building was largely a student-driven initiative. 

“From the beginning, our students worked closely with President Daniel, me and other administrators, and eventually approved a referendum to add a $71 fee to their own tuition that would make their dream a reality,” Rachavong said.  “In doing so, they ushered a proposal that could have taken years to develop, to reality in just a few years.”

In addition to offices, the new, four-story building will include large areas of common space, enabling current and prospective students to meet with advisors and staff, and to work with each other in informal settings.

The building will feature a limestone façade that will have the appearance of floating from various vantage points within the facility.  It is expected to be complete by fall 2010.    

Busby, Perkins and Will designed the facility as a LEED Platinum Building, which means it’s being developed with the highest level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification that a building can achieve.  Hill & Wilkinson is the lead construction firm on the project.

Construction on campus is booming, and several of the projects currently under way are expected to be done in time for the start of the fall 2009 semester, or shortly thereafter. 

The Student Residence Hall and Food Services Hall both are expected to be finished in August, and the campus landscape enhancement project is slated for completion by November.     

The new 148,000-square-foot residence hall will provide 400 beds and will offer a living learning community geared toward freshmen.  It will include a mix of furnished, three-bedroom, single-bath suites.  The 30,000-square-foot dining hall will be open seven days a week and will include a waffle bar, cooking and beverage stations, potato and dessert bars and full meal options.  The landscape project calls for water features, pedestrian walkways and the addition of thousands of trees on campus.  

Other construction projects in the works include the renovation of Founders Hall and a Math, Science and Engineering Teaching-Learning Center that will provide space for math and science education, primarily for undergraduate students.

Rachavong said she hopes the Student Services Building will give the University room to grow.

“Ideally, this building will free up space in others areas on campus, which will allow us to add classrooms, labs and offices, that in turn will allow us to continue to grow the size of our student body,” Rachavong said.  “That’s an exciting prospect, and I’m grateful that our students had the insight, pride and faith in University administration to help bring it to reality.  This is truly their building and their day of celebration.”