Wallace Road office building demolished for new facility
Academic resource center to be open to students in 2007
By Ina Kadic
Daily Staff Writer
A new facility dedicated to increasing student retention, graduation rates and improving academic achievement is in the works for ISU students.
The Hixson-Lied Student Success Center is scheduled to open in March 2007, and the $10 million needed to complete the project will be provided by private gifts.
The new facility will be built on Beach Road in the location now occupied by the Wallace Road Office Building, which is being demolished.
Because the academic center is not scheduled to open for two years, it is important to continue to provide support service to help students be successful, said Debra Sanborn, program coordinator for the Dean of Students Office. The whole idea behind the project is to provide better services to students, she said.
"It's wonderful when we have additional space to enhance students' success, create a larger community and have a space to call our own," Sanborn said.
"There has never been a space for students to gather and to build a community."
The center will be home to the Christina Hixson Opportunity Awards program, which provides a $10,000 scholarship to one student from each Iowa county. Students who are first generation college students and might not be able to attend college without aid will benefit from services offered at the new center, Sanborn said.
The new Rod and Connie French Athletic Academic Center, located on the second floor of the facility, is planned to provide student athletes with academic development programs and career development services, said Donald Reed, manager of athletic academic services for the athletic department.
He said no new services will be provided to students in the new facility.
Instead, the current services in Beyer Hall and the Student Services Building will be relocated to the new building.
"We want to enhance students' experience not only from an athletes' perspective, but also from a students' perspective," Reed said. "The idea was to provide opportunities for students who have a centralized location for program services. Similar to the Memorial Union, but with an academic slant."
Vice President for Student Affairs Thomas Hill said donors have made the new facility possible.
"It is designed to most definitely help improve students' academic successes," he said.
"This is our opportunity to reach more students."
According to the ISU Foundation Web site, the Lied Foundation Trust of Las Vegas, Nev., committed $5 million to the new center, and Rod and Connie French have given $1.5 million.
Christina M. Hixson, trustee of the foundation, has also donated funds to support ISU students in the past.
Terms Of Use
In order to facilitate fair and focused discussion, the Iowa State Daily requires that all participants adhere to the following forum rules. All user feedback will be posted immediately upon submission and will be monitored by the user community. Forum participants are encouraged to report any feedback that does not comply with the rules. Although the Daily reserves the right to remove posts and/or block users if these rules are violated, the staff will not be actively involved in an approval or review process. These terms of use may be modified at any time without notice, and such modifications shall be effective immediately.
All letters to the editor, whether submitted to the online edition or the print edition, and all online story feedback become the property of the Iowa State Daily and may be used in print editions and online editions of the Iowa State Daily. The Daily archives all of its content, which is accessible to readers at any time. Anonymous letters will not be accepted. Names may be withheld for good cause upon request at the sole discretion of the Daily. Letters may be edited for style, space, clarity and accuracy.
In submitting feedback, you are representing and agreeing that: