Expansive Student Services Center under construction

Work on the giant 54,450-square-foot hub for student services on the west side of campus is nearing completion after two and a half years of construction.

Once open it will fundamentally change the layout of student services on campus.

Currently, crucial student services buildings are spread throughout campus, and students walk back and forth to access services they need.

This new building will change that.

Students will be able to access computers for registration, complete their assessment testing and visit Financial Aid and the Counseling Office all in one place, said Carol Horton, vice president of finance and administration.

The newly erected Student Services Center was designed to meet the silver standard of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design's green building certification program, said Mike Harrington, director of facilities and construction.

This means the building was designed to conserve resources, reduce waste, and lower operating costs.

The building will not have official LEED certification due to cost and because it went into planning stages before the green movement got its footing, Horton said.

It will house Admissions and Records, Counseling Center, Transfer Center, Student Health Center, International Students Center, Disabled Student Programs and Services Center, Financial Aid, and Extended Opportunities Programs and Services Center. There will also be a café and bookstore project manager Bob Bradshaw said.  

Although the project is slightly behind schedule because of rain near the beginning of construction, administrators hope to move offices by early December and have the building occupied by the spring 2011 semester, Horton said.

The target date for the Student Services Center remains to be completely operational up in the air because the movement of various offices and programs that the center will house is complicated, Horton said.

The Student Services Center, along with all other new buildings on campus, will feature double-paned windows to maintain temperatures inside the building and conserve energy, Harrington said.

Room temperatures in the building will be controlled remotely through the Campus Energy Management System, which also controls room temperatures in all other buildings on campus.

All rooms in the center will have motion detectors for light to conserve energy, Bradshaw said.

The current administration building will be gutted and completely remodeled inside and is planned to be more energy efficient, Horton said.

The Citrus College Foundation will move in from the Center for Innovation and the Executive Board Room will move downstairs into a larger room where it is more accessible, Horton said.

Measure G, a $121 million bond measure approved by voters in 2004, and intended to enhance and update aging facilities, is funding all construction projects on campus.

Once completed, the Student Services Center will be the largest building on campus, Horton said.