As the great migration into The Commons continues, the staff of the University Success Center continues to move programs into their new location. Students can expect to see the entire center under one roof shortly after spring break.

“We’re waiting on some last-minute pieces,” said Robert Koch, director of the University Success Center. “None of the white boards have come in, but those have been ordered. As soon as we have everything taken care of, we can start moving in our student personnel and really kind of ramp up everything that’s happening.”

One issue with the move is it taking place in the middle of the semester, said Kathleen Richards, assistant director of the Center for Writing Excellence, which is part of the larger center.

“The only negative I see about moving to the new space is moving during the middle of the semester,” Richards said. “This might be confusing to students. We will be sending out emails to everyone so they know what’s going on and where we will be located like financial services did.”

Once the University Success Center is completely moved in, students will see improvements in the physical space, Koch said.

“We had one-on-one tutorial spaces and we had study group spaces in the old Writing Center in Collier Library, but this gives us an entirely different level of understanding for those spaces,” Koch said. “(The different programs) see each other now and work side by side.”

The center’s new location also offers additional advantages, Richards said.

“I’m most excited about us being able to be interactive with other tutoring services on campus,” Richards said. “We will be more readily available to assist students and our hours will be a little longer. We will be more connected with offices such as advising and financial services, and this will let us help students in the best possible way.”

The center now has multiple areas for students to work in including a larger computer lab, which can be used as a testing facility, and smaller computer labs, all equipped with programs like InDesign for communications or English classes. Each room will be completely wireless, Koch said.

Junior Sarah Jane has been in the University Success Center to study with friends, she said.

“It’s super quiet, and I really appreciate that,” Jane said. “There’s a lot of space and everything is clean and new. Sometimes I’ll go up there and just have coffee by the window and read because it’s a great area for that too.”

There are group study rooms, individual study areas and a lecture hall with everything on wheels that can be configured for any purpose. Every room will be fully stocked with the necessary tools to teach and learn, Koch said.

Another new aspect to the University Success Center will be new software called Beacon.

“What Beacon does is it helps us see where students are in terms of (if) they are at risk of not succeeding in college,” Koch said.

“We’ll have students do a survey that gives us information, then we’ll add to that (with) grades and attendance records throughout the semester. That will help us prioritize who we reach out to and how we reach out to them.”

Koch wants to create a warmer atmosphere by adding artwork to the University Success Center.

“We’re working with Dr. Chen in the Art Department,” Koch said. “We’re hoping to get some student projects in here.”

I think the biggest thing we can do, and the most important thing we need to do to establish this as a comfortable place is to allow students to buy into the place through the services, the feel and the relationships of the people who work here.”

Although the University Success Center has not completely relocated, students are welcome to come by.

“We’ve seen a lot of students come up and down the hall and just hang out, which we think is great,” Koch said. “We’d like to see more of that. We’d like to see students make this their destination for study space and for learning and for support.”

It’s very important that students come to the University Success Center, said freshman Ethan Feener, a Spanish tutor.

“Not only can students help each other, but we as student tutors, along with administrators and administrative assistants can help students achieve,” Feener said. “There are a lot of people here more than willing to help. There’s five different rooms students can go in to either be by themselves and study or be with a group of people and study.”