USU prepares for projected growth in next 10 years
The Student Health Center will be moving to the Wellness Center located north of the stadium on Dec. 17. This will be the first of many changes to take place in the Taggart Student Center for the coming year.
“The move will provide the Health Center with more space,” said Dinnene Jensen, LPN for the Health Center. “We have needed this for a long time.”
She said with the growth of students over the past few years, the clinic has been seeing more and more patients. The growth presented a need for more physicians and space.
“There is good and bad that come with this,” Jensen said. “Where we are no longer on campus, it will take the students more time because they will not be able to just drop in.”
Overall, Jensen said it will be a positive change and they plan to be fully-functioning in the new location by the first of the year.
TSC director Gary Chambers said after remodeling, in place of the Health Center, will be Enrollment Management Services combined with the Admissions office.
He said in February the Disability Resource Center and Enrollment Management Services will switch spaces. After the renovation is complete, the departments will combine.
“After the remodeling, this will be a really positive thing,” said director of Recruitment and Enrollment Eric Olsen. “There has been a lot of duplication of work due to physical separation [between the two offices].”
Olsen said because of the separate locations of Admissions and Enrollment Management, the scholarship and admissions applications have been two different forms even though they include much of the same information. With the merging of the two offices they will be able to combine some of the paperwork.
In addition to these changes, Chambers said the bookstore will also see some remodeling and the TSC hallway will be widened.
Chambers said the university is predicted to grow by 10,000 students in the next 10 years, and remodeling and construction are needed to provide for the growth.
He said, though construction plans are in the preliminary stages, the one place the hall will be widened is in front of the bookstore by about six feet on both sides.
Chambers said the hall is dated and plans are being made to upgrade the lighting, walls and flooring.
Director of Auxiliary Service Paul Sampson said the changes will also allow easier access to the businesses in the TSC.
“The change will not only make the hallway more aesthetically pleasing, but also more functional as a whole,” Sampson said. “Our purpose is to serve the students.”
Chambers said the remodeling is planned to start around the end of March and should be complete by the beginning of fall semester.