The semester conversion isn’t the only change Ohio State students will see next year, as many offices will be relocating next spring.
Joseph Alutto, executive vice president and provost, announced the office changes in a March 27 email to university affiliates.
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions and First Year Experience, located in Enarson Hall, will be moving to the Student Academic Services Building on Lane Avenue. Also, the Hale Center located on 12th Avenue, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Office of Outreach and Engagement, both in the SAS Building, will all move to Enarson.
In his email, Alutto said the university hopes these moves will create a “one-stop shop” for students. Allen Kraus, director for the Office of Enrollment Services, agreed.
“I think UAFYE’s move to SAS will certainly have huge benefits for students,” Kraus said. “Some of those benefits will be the result of having several related business offices in a single location.”
Kraus said combining admissions, financial aid, the registrar, the bursar and the student service center in one location will improve collaboration and better assist students and families.
Valerie Lee, vice provost for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, said she is also excited about the move. Lee oversees the Hale Center and the Office of Outreach and Engagement.
“This is something we have wanted for years and we didn’t think it would happen any time soon,” Lee said. “I think it’s a big step for diversity on the OSU campus.”
LaChe Roach, president for the OSU chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and an intern at the Hale Center, said the move is an important change that needed to happen.
“I actually think the move will be very positive for the African-American community,” Roach said. “It’s a way to grow and encompass the dream Dr. (Frank) Hale had.”
In his email, Alutto said the university regrets that Hale was unable to see his dream come true of seeing the Hale Center moved to “more expansive and aesthetically pleasing quarters.”
Hale died last summer from cancer, Lee said.
“The bottom line is that when Hale was sick, he kept asking us if we had any news about where the Hale Center would be relocated. We had always wanted it to be in Enarson, and now we’re all delighted,” Lee said.
The Hale Center is one of the nation’s premier cultural centers and it will soon be in a building that’s worthy of its reputation, Lee said.
Roach agreed.
“The RPAC is one of the best gyms in the country, the union is one of the best in the country, so there’s no doubt that we’re making this another piece of campus that will be the best in the country,” Roach said.
According to Alutto’s email, Enarson will provide more space for the Hale Center, which is home to the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male, the Americans with Disabilities Act program and the nine-city Young Scholars Program.
Alutto said the cost of the switches will pay for themselves in the savings they receive from becoming more efficient.
“(The project will be) paid for through the significant cost-savings that will be achieved by these consolidations,” Alutto said in an email.
The switch will affect about 80 employees. The moves are expected to be completed by May 2013.
Lee said Enarson used to be the home of OSU’s first student union and has since “had lots of different names that have centered around student activity. It’s been a building known to put students first, so we are really proud to carry on that tradition.”
Encompassing much history, Kraus said there will be a twinge of sadness for those who have worked in Enarson, but since he spends a lot of time traveling between there and the SAS building, he said he is looking forward to the move.
