Academic Building 4 is under construction at the intersection of 20th Street and Avenue I, and will be the new home for the history, library science, and psychology departments. It will also house the Student Advising and Mentoring Center and a new Computer Services lab. The Board of Regents approved the construction of this 61,070 square-foot facility in August 1999, with an estimated cost of $8.5 million. The land being used for the building was once used for five departmental dormitories. John McCroskey, the overseer of the building project, said the building process is behind schedule at the moment, but the building should be completed by the end of October 2002. He said the building should be ready for use in January, after the furniture and the necessary equipment are installed. McCroskey said the building will improve campus life, and it will have modern, up-to-date classrooms. “The classrooms will be as good, if not better, than the ones that are being used now,” said Dr. Nicholas Pappas, a history professor at SHSU. He said there will be a large auditorium for courses such as the HIS163 course, which is required of all students. He said there will also be new audio and visual equipment for educational use. Pappas said it will be good to be closer to campus because he feels isolated from the rest of the campus by being in Estill. “It’s in a central location and it will be closer to my ‘lab’, the library. It will be a tremendous move, but I’m looking forward to it,” Pappas said. This will be the fourth move for the history department. Computer Services staff member Bill Thomas said the new computer lab will offer basically the same services that the other labs around campus offer. It will have two printers, new scanners and 96 personal computer stations. There will also be lab assistants available to assist students. “The use of the computer labs has not dropped any,” said Thomas. He said the amount of new PC stations will allow more students access to computers for class assignments and surfing the Internet. The Estill Building will continue to be used for administrative purposes such as admissions, food services and housing.
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