By ALYSSA SPANGLER
Staff Reporter
As part of the bond project that was approved in 2019, the Amarillo College Student Services Center on the Washington Street Campus will be going through some big changes. While those changes have not started, planning is now underway. Currently, college officials are looking at moving the Student Services Center to Russell Hall.
“We have an architect. We are in a very early phase known as the programming phase,” said Shane Hepler, the college’s chief information officer. “This is where all the ideas are thrown out there and multiple designs are shown so we can see different options to accomplish the end goal.”
Officials say that the ultimate goal of the project is to make the Student Services Center a place where students can get help for all of the things they could possibly need. “The goal of the Student Services Center is to create a one-stop-shop for students so they can get all of the tasks they need done to be a student without having to be sent all over the place,” said Hepler. “Registrar, advising, financial aid, and many other student support services all in one spot. This makes, in my opinion, an ‘easy option’ for new students.”
While the Coronavirus pandemic has affected many aspects of AC life, it has not affected the planned changes to the Student Services Center. “If it does cause any delays in the future it would be the ability of the contractors to get the material they need to build,” said Hepler.
Students say that the changes sound helpful. “I like the idea of having all of the help I need in one building,” said Savannah Gordon, a pre-nursing major. “When I first started at the college, I was a little bit confused just trying to get everything set up.”
“I think the college already does a great job of catering to the needs of its students so I believe that any changes they are making will be great for us students,” said Jazmine Garcia, a pre-physician assistant major.
The timeline and specific details are still unknown for this project. “Once we get to the phase where we have the design and we have a contractor then we can get to the full project plan with timelines on the job,” Hepler said.
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