The North Texan, Volume 45, Number 4, Winter 1995 Page: 7

                                
ADVANCED LEARNING AND STUDENT SERVICES CENTER
Providing convenient one-stop service for students
For students, perhaps no other new   says Registrar Joneel Harris.               "We've asked the architect to design
building will have as great an impact as     Both undergraduate and graduate     this building with a lot of flexibility in
what is now being constructed south of the  admissions offices, currently housed in the  mind," she says.
University Union.                        Administration Building, will move to the   As part of the overall project, the Lab
The Advanced Learning and Student    third floor of the new building, Harris says.  School Gymnasium, southwest of the
Services Center, a three-story structure, will  The registrar's office and the financial  Union, will be renovated into a large audito-
consolidate into one building several of the  aid office will have space on both the first  rium-style, multimedia classroom and inte-
enrollment-related support offices that serve  and second floors while the student account-  grated into the overall facility. At that time,
students. Those that aren't in the new build-  ing and ID card functions of the bursar's  the gymnasium will cease to exist as a sepa-
ing will be located in the University Union,  office will be housed on the first floor. The  rate building.
and the two structures will be connected by  campus telephone operators, who play an
a covered walkway.                       important part as information providers, also
"Historically, one of the things we con-  will be housed on the first floor.   Location: South of University Union
tinually hear from students is that they have  "We tried to take things from the per-
to go from one area to another in order to  spective of the students in determining the  Scheduled for completion: Spring 1997
take care of things," says Dr. Joe Stewart,  layout of the building and what services
vice president for student affairs. "So what  should be located where," Harris says.  To include: Campus telephone opera-  Construction site of new center, with Willis
we are trying to do is centralize many of the  "Having all these offices located in one  tors, financial aid office, graduate  Library and the Music Building in the back-
services students utilize so that they will not  building will make it a lot easier for students  admissions office, registrar's office,  ground
have to run all over campus to take care of  and a lot easier for us to assist students."  scholarship office, student accounting
their business."                            The location and functions of offices  and ID card areas of bursar's office,
Offices from at least six different build-  are subject to change, both now and in the  undergraduate admissions office
ings will be moved into the new structure,  future, Harris says.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BUILDING

Encouraging the public and university
When Dr. Ken Dickson talks about      "That way we can encourage the public
plans for the new Environmental Education, to come and see some environmental
Science and Technology Building, he uses  exhibits or attend educational seminars or
words like "cool" and "neat."         workshops," Dickson says.
And why not? The building will be     The building will house all or part of
more than just a collection of classrooms  several academic departments, including
and offices, although it will feature both.  geography, philosophy, some physics
"It's going to be an academic building  offices, some biology offices and the
that encourages the public to interact with  Institute of Applied Sciences.
the academic community, which I think is  "This is going to bring together under
the future of North Texas," says Dickson,  one roof a lot of the people who are work-
Regents Professor of biological sciences  ing on environmental issues, which will
and director of the Institute of Applied  help us by facilitating more cooperation
Sciences. "The university and the commu-  between researchers," Dickson says.
nity are going to, I think, have to work  "One of our other goals is to make sure
together more and more in the future, and  that the way the building is built and oper-
that's our goal with this building."  ated is environmentally friendly," he adds.
Designers plan to include an exhibit  Another important feature of the build-
hall and meeting rooms in the building.  ing will be a planetarium to serve the

to interact

astronomy focus of the physics department.
The planetarium also could be open for
public use.
"It's going to be a cool building.
Hopefully, it will be a different generation
of building on campus," Dickson says. "I
just think it will be really neat."
Location: West side of Avenue C
between Hickory and Mulberry streets
Construction schedule: Could start
summer 1996 and end a year later
Size: Two or three stories: larger than
existing Science Research Building
Interior: Classrooms, exhibit hall,
meeting rooms, offices, planetarium

"The university and the com-
munity are going to ... have to
work together more and more
in the future, and that's our
goal with this building."
- Dr. Ken Dickson, Regents
Professor of biological sci-
ences and director of the
Institute of Applied Sciences

WILLIS LIBRARY

Adding space and upgrading for high-tech study

Perhaps the most immediate change on
campus is occurring at Willis Library.
"It's going to be quite different when
we're finished," says Dr. Don Grose, direc-
tor of libraries. "We hope that by the time
we open our doors for the spring semester,
everything will be in place and it will look
like a brand new facility so people will
walk in and say, 'Wow, what happened?"'
The changes will be evident the
minute one walks in the door.
One major change has been the closing
up of a large opening in the second floor
adjacent to the stairwell.
"By closing up that opening, we creat-

ed an additional 700 square feet that we
will use for additional seating," Grose says.
The checkout and information desk,
which previously directly faced the main
library entrance, has been moved off to the
side. Soon, a self-checkout stand will be
installed.,
"That way, you can just walk up,
insert your ID card and slide your book
through the machine and leave," Grose
says. "That should help alleviate some of
the problems with long lines and free up
library personnel to assist students."
Students also can use the information
arcade that will be installed right inside the

library entrance. The arcade will have com-
puters, information kiosks and terminals
that offer access to the library's on-line cat-
alog system.
"If you need a quick reference on
something, the arcade will be the place to
go," Grose says.
Also on the first floor, a large reading
room enclosed by glass will offer students
more study space. Waist-high shelves for
the library's current periodicals will line
the walls of the room.
On the lower level, the room housing
the microfilm and microfiche machines has
been renovated and more machines have

"You will be able to access the
university's computer system
and the Internet from almost
anywhere in the library."
- Dr. Don Grose, director of
libraries
See PLANNING on page 19
University of North Texas  7