MONTICELLO -- The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville plans to build a new academic support building at an estimated cost of between $40 million and $45 million.
"It will be central location for all the student services that contribute to student success," UA Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said Wednesday.
Steinmetz spoke at a meeting of the University of Arkansas board of trustees, where a board committee gave preliminary approval for the selection of architects and a contractor for the project. The full board will consider approval today.
A description of the project prepared for trustees states that the Student Success Center will "create a dedicated space for student and faculty interaction outside of the classroom, for personal mentoring, tutoring, and guidance, and a welcoming home base for students to study and collaborate."
Steinmetz told trustees that existing services for students are spread around the Fayetteville campus. The concept for the new center is "a concierge service for students who are struggling," Steinmetz said.
The center staff will work to "identify the real issues students are struggling with," which could be grades but also might have to do with adjusting to the Fayetteville campus or other issues, Steinmetz said.
He said the goal is to boost student graduation and retention. At UA, the most recent six-year graduation rate was 61.5 percent for students who entered in the fall of 2011. The graduation rate decreased from the 64.5 percent graduation rate reported in 2016.
General obligation bonds, along with other funding sources including donor gifts, are expected to pay for the project.
Vasti Torres, a professor with the University of Michigan's Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, said centers like what are proposed at UA are common at universities.
"The ideal is when all the services in the center begin to communicate and coordinate in order to better serve the students," Torres said in an email.
A description of the center states that it will be built just north of Old Main. To build the new center, the plan is to remove a building that houses UA's School of Social Work.
Alishia Ferguson, director of the social work school, said she is confident that the university will work to ensure faculty and staff members are housed together, though no plan has yet been put together.
A description of the center states that it will be approximately 70,000 to 75,000 square feet, with food service as part of the center.
Asked if there is evidence that such centers improve graduation rates, Torres said "the causal relationship is difficult to make."
But after reading some details of the UA plan, Torres praised components of the project.
"The description of the UA center seems to want to blend a one-stop center, student union and learning spaces into one place at the center of campus. That is an ideal blend," Torres said.
Metro on 03/29/2018