Just in time for Spring Semester 2018, the Counseling Center is preparing to serve more students with recent renovations that will accommodate two more therapists.
The renovations began in November 2017. Architects were given the challenge of
creating two new office spaces without sacrificing necessary group rooms.
With campus enrollment projected?to continue to increase in the coming years, Counseling Center Director Reed Stoddard knew group room space could not be sacrificed.
“We thought if we’re going to get more offices, we’re going to have to lose a group room,” Stoddard said. “But we use our group rooms regularly and we do a lot of groups and workshops.”
The architect on campus was able to overcome this challenge with a design that successfully accommodates both group rooms and the two new office spaces.
“The design is going to enable us to keep doing the amount of workshops and groups we’ve been doing, but also give us space for two new therapists, who will start later this year. It will be a nice blessing for the students,” Stoddard said.
To help fulfill the goal of serving more students, another office in the center has also been made available for therapist use. A doctor that had used the space now uses a remote office in Chapman Hall. This allows for three office spaces now open to additional therapists.
The waiting space in the Counseling Center has also been reconfigured?to accommodate the two new offices and a new front desk design.
While the construction has gone on, the entrance to the Counseling Center was moved to a separate entryway than the Health Center. With construction completed, the entrance will once again be shared.
“The entrance will go back to where it was,” Stoddard said. “There will be one entrance and students can go left for the Health Center and up the stairs to the right for the Counseling Center. It’ll look nice and will be an inviting place for the students.”