University Pavilion: On The Move

University Pavilion, the second anchor of MainStreet to open for business this fall, is now filling up with workers across student service offices. The move started Nov. 4 into the $32 million, six-story building designed by Leers Weinzapfel Associates and GBBN Architects. Construction started on the building in January 2001.

The opening of University Pavilion further ends the so-called "UC Shuffle." That's because student service offices that were formerly housed in six different buildings will all be in one convenient, central location in the heart of campus. Those offices include Admissions, Financial Aid, the Office of the Registrar, Student Accounts and Collections, the Student Success Center, Career Development Center, Educational Services, One Stop Student Services Center, Cashier's Office, Disability Services, Enrollment Management and the University Visitors Center.

The move is taking place during a fairly settled student service time period -- after the fall start-up and before the traditional end-of-the-term activity such as grade processing and registration for the next term. But that will change quickly, though, as the last day to withdraw from fall quarter classes, register or re-register without appeal, comes Thursday, Nov. 21. Students will need to conduct that business at University Pavilion, not at Edwards One.

The One Stop Student Services Center will stay open on the fourth floor of Edwards One through 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, and will reopen at 8 a.m. at University Pavilion Nov. 15. Services available through the One Stop Web site will remain operational through the move.

Here's a list of the offices that have relocated so far and those that are yet to move:

Nov. 4 -- Offices for Admissions, Marketing, Student Financial Aid and Scholarships

Nov. 6 -- Educational Services

Nov. 7 --Admissions Processing

Nov. 8 --Student Financial Aid/Processing, Marketing and Disability Services

Nov. 12 --Career Development Center

Nov. 13 - Registrar

Nov. 14 - Collections, One Stop Student Services Center

Nov. 15 - Student Accounts, Cashier

Executive offices, including the Office of the President and Vice Presidents for Finance, Student Affairs and Services, Governmental Relations and University Communications, Information Technology as well as the Board of Trustees and Legal Affairs and General Counsel, are scheduled to move to the sixth floor of University Pavilion Dec. 9-18. The current building that housing these offices, the Van Wormer Library, will undergo a renovation that is scheduled to begin in June.

The Career Development Center and Educational Services will be housed in the Student Success Center of University Pavilion, on the first floor. On this level, a wall of Alabama limestone is the same as the stone wall on the exterior of the building.

The One Stop Student Services Center will be on the second floor, where the new cross-trained University Service Associates (USAs) will be available to address student needs for registration, records, financial aid, student accounts and collections -- a step beyond the One Stop Web site that is available to students 24 hours a day.

 "Quite frankly, there is nothing more creative or substantial or demonstrative of quality service as the One Stop Student Services Center," says Mitchel D. Livingston, vice president of Student Affairs and Services. "It is a beautifully designed building that has state-of-the-art technology. It has cross-trained professional staff, rather than your typical service provider at a counter. Nothing we have is as dramatic as that. As a matter of fact, what we have created is leading edge in all of the country."

Mini-living room "pods" -- 12 USA home bases plus six in the front of the One Stop Student Services Center are considered the most progressively designed furniture in the country. The pods are manufactured by Knoll International. "We selected this furniture because it's brand new and it matched our vision of being flexible to student needs," says Stanley E. Henderson, associate vice president for Enrollment Management, who adds the University Pavilion is the one of the first buildings in the country to have the furniture, second to the Chrysler Building in New York.

The third floor, front entrance from McMicken houses the University Visitors Center, with an 88-seat presentation room and a 125-seat multipurpose room that can be turned into either theater style seating or classroom seating. The area will also hold exhibits and gallery space.

The fourth floor of University Pavilion will house the administrative and processing areas of Enrollment Services (Admissions/Financial Aid). Floor five will hold the Office of the Registrar, Student Accounts and Collections, and floor six will house executive offices. The service areas of these offices will be located in the One Stop Student Services Center.

Since University Pavilion was based on the concept of "service for and about students," the students will have the grandest entrance to the building--straight through the "Window on the Campus" side of the building overlooking McMicken Commons. A bridge connecting University Pavilion to the College-Conservatory of Music builds an additional pathway between campus buildings.

University Pavilion will be home to more than 200 full-time UC staff. The project was funded through a state capital projects fund, which is separate from what the state allots the university in academic funding. No student fees or private money was used to pay for construction.