The new Student Health and Counseling Center broke ground Saturday, and the plan is to be operational in a year.
“The ground breaking ceremony was an exciting moment,” Andrew Miller, director of the counseling center, said. “It’s taken two years of hard work from more people than I can count to get us to this point. The ceremony was a way of celebrating all of that effort.”
Students passed a referendum in Fall 2012 to raise the student health fee to pay for the building. The referendum raised the fee $37, from $38 to $75. The fee increase went into place in spring 2013.
The new building will offer new services to students such as same-day appointments, a 24-hour nursing and counseling hotline and an expanded pharmacy. The new 28,000 square-foot building will house health services and the counseling center that were previously in separate facilities.
“The fact that we’ve broken ground means that our respective staff members can begin planning for all of the new services that we’ll be able to provide in the building, and it gives them something to look forward to,” Miller said.
The building is expected to be ready for student use Fall 2014.