Because many departments are moving into the Anderson Student Center, Murray-Herrick Campus Center will be able to provide some new accommodations. MHC’s first floor will be the first to see changes in the building’s reassignment plan.
As early as Feb. 1, existing classrooms, the Card Office, the Registrar’s Office and Academic Counseling will move to the first floor of MHC.
Joseph Kreitzer, associate vice president for academic affairs, said the move will create private areas for these departments.
“Academic Counseling needed some private spots. So did Student Life and the Business Office. They needed kind of controlled access and some private offices, so that worked well,” Kreitzer said. “Putting Campus Ministry and the Card Office next to the Business Office made sense.”
Kreitzer also said “it made sense” to turn The Grill and cafeteria into classrooms.
“The remodeling cost is relatively low for those places because we paint and recarpet a couple spots,” Kreitzer said.
But the total cost of the reassignments will depend on budget allocations.
“There’s no fundraising for redoing Murray-Herrick. For us, it’s a matter of do we have any money left over in budgets that we can squirrel away for this because there isn’t any dedicated fund,” Kreitzer said. “We think there’s enough money this year to do a couple of first steps like the classrooms, but in the second phase, we’re talking $2 (million) or $3 million just to move IRT around.”
The second phase of relocation also includes moving Financial Aid and Admissions to MHC. Kreitzer said if enough money comes in, even more departments could benefit.
“There are two faculty spaces that are substandard. Modern Classical Language is one, and the other one is Art History. If we get funding available… we would fix the space for the Modern Classical Languages in OEC and then move Art History into MHC,” Kreitzer said.
German professor Paul Schons said he has been waiting for the language department to remodel for years.
“The offices here on third floor have never been remodeled,” Schons said. “As a result, we have very small offices compared to any others in this building.”
Professor and Art History Chair Mark Stansbury-O’Donnell said a move to O’Shaughnessy Educational Center would be appreciated.
“If you go down in our basement, you can see our visual resources center, which is where we make the images to show in classrooms; and it’s complete chaos,” he said. “We make it work, but it would be welcomed for everybody to have an office and to have a workroom for the images.”
Kreitzer said putting departments that students constantly need access to in one area would be beneficial.
“In the end, the prospective student could go to the second floor of Murray-Herrick and find the Admissions Office and go directly downstairs and find Financial Aid if they needed a transcript,” Kreitzer said. “If they needed to talk to someone about majors and minors and things that transfer or didn’t transfer…that will all be in the same physical building.”
Freshman Ben Christopher said “that definitely sounds like a good idea.”
“I think it’d be really helpful,” Christopher said. “I’m a freshman so first semester everything’s kind of jumbled anyways, and I’m used to running around being lost. But I think with everything located centrally, everything would be a lot easier.”
With thoughts of winter in mind, senior Marilla Burgmeier said keeping these departments in one building would be convenient.
“I find that I don’t really want to go to other buildings when it’s really cold outside. So having it in one area, especially when a lot of the time when you set up an appointment with Financial Aid, you have to set up an appointment with other people too,” Burgmeier said. “Now you’ll be able to do it all in one spot.”
Cynthia Johnson can be reached at john3175@stthomas.edu.