Posted 10 November 2007 - 05:30 PM
Regents approve future funding for ASU construction
A new academic building for Augusta State is on the list of needed facilities that was approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia at their October board meeting. The $27.5 million academic building is one of more than 100 new projects needed throughout the System that calls for a total investment of $1.7 billion.
The new building will be constructed near the Christenberry Field House on Wrightsboro Road and will house the College of Education and the Department of Nursing. It is anticipated that the regents will allocate funding for the building’s design in FY 2011 and for construction in FY 2012.
“The building could be in use in 2014,” says Special Coordinator for Academic and Master Planning Kathy Hamrick. “The good part of this is getting to plan that far ahead,” she says, adding that requests for capital funding used to be submitted yearly, making it difficult to plan in advance.
The new model is data driven and is based upon each institution's current enrollment, anticipated enrollment growth, total square footage on campus, the age and condition of current facilities, as well as the priorities of the board as reflected in its new Strategic Plan.
According to Dr. Hamrick, planning is already underway for the new 80,000 square foot facility as well as for the space in University Hall that nursing and the College of Education will be vacating. Advance planning is essential, she says, and there are many considerations. For instance, should a snack bar be included in the plan? Should transportation be provided between Walton Way and Wrightsboro Road? While these and other questions are being considered, Dr. Hamrick stresses the desire to preserve the feel of a unified campus.
“We’ll still be one campus. We’ll just have two sites,” says Dr. Hamrick.
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