Chatham University’s Academic Success Department is moving forward with its plans to create a hub for the Academic Advising Center, Office of Academic & Accessibility Resources (OAAR), the Office of Global Engagement and Career Development, putting them in one central location.
The first floor of the Jennie King Mellon (JKM) library has been chosen as the new location for the Academic Success Center (ASC). The project planning team is seeking feedback from students to inform the next steps in the design process, and it’s working with Chatham Student Government (CSG) to welcome input. The project does not have an official timeline yet. It received some grant money a few years ago, but fundraising opportunities are currently being researched with Chatham’s Advancement Office.
“We are looking forward to getting, you know, student feedback because it is a space that serves the students,” Dana Mastroianni, manager of the library and public services, said.
The University is looking at fully renovating the first floor of the library, including expanding the 24-hour space, adding an all-gender bathroom, relocating the library circulation desk and office and updating the IT Help Desk and offices. The team is also looking into adding more outlets and comfortable seating options.
“Everyone is sort of moving in a clockwise rotation across the [first] floor,” Mastroianni said.
The library circulation desk will be relocated so it’s the first thing students see when they walk in. This means IT will shift to the right, and the 24-hour space will shift to the other side of the library.
“It’s going to be like a hug, with the library circulation desk there at the center and then being able to go to IT or ASC on the sides, and then having the 24-hour space on one side,” Associate Dean and Director of Academic Success Jeff Bukowski said.
The Chair of the Interior Architecture department Kyra Tucker is leading the collaborative design effort. The additional team members are the heads of each department included in these renovations and their respective staffs. The Facilities department and Bill Campbell, the vice president of operations and communications, are also involved.
Over the summer, a decision was made by the project planning team and the University about the location of the ASC. When the conversation first started, the University was looking at making the third floor of JMK Library a central location. However, the location was changed due to the amount of reorganization that would have needed to take place for the third floor to be utilized.
The team believes that the current design makes the space better for students more intentionally. The most important goal is to make the first floor of the JKM Library more student centered. The project planning team hopes for it to serve as a one-stop shop for students.
“We want to be able to have students kind of stumble across these things and discover and find them all at once,” Bukowski said.
The project planning team feels that not many students know about the resources or opportunities available to them, unless students have explicitly sought them out. They anticipate that students will have an easier time finding these resources if they are centralized.
“Honestly, the buildings can be a little confusing, especially coming here [for the first time] and looking for the advising center,” Jordan Means ‘29 said. “There are so many different places, and I’m coming here and trying to remember all the locations. It could be pretty overwhelming.”
The project planning team believes that by centralizing these departments, it will increase collaboration, lessen the workload for staff and make it easier for students to access a variety of help.
“I think the changes made [to the design] are intentional,” said former library student employee Oona McKeegan ‘27, who was present over the summer when the architecture firm working on the project did a walk-through of the library. “Having these things be more centralized not only allows students to find them more easily but also allows departments to communicate with each other better.”
