This article has been updated since its original publication.
Funding for an Academic Learning Center building for Kennesaw State students passed the Georgia House and is now pending in the Senate following approval by Governor Brian Kemp.
KSU President Dr. Pamela Whitten confirmed at a Student Government Association meeting on Tuesday, March 12, that Kemp put funding for the ALC into his budget.
“Governor Kemp included our ALC in his budget recommendation to the General Assembly,” Ayers said. “The House passed the budget which included the ALC. Now the Senate is going through their budget process, so there are a few more steps involved.”
Concerns were expressed among KSU students in 2017 that the university may not have enough space for its population of more than 35,000 students. If the budget is approved, the ALC hopes to address this issue.
Campus Planning and Sustainability Director Craig VanDevere said in 2017 that the center will house offices for University College, the Department of Foreign Languages, the Coles College of Business, the Honors College, the Center for Student Leadership and Career Planning and Development. University Spokeswoman Tammy DeMel also said that the center will include new classroom space.
VanDevere said earlier that the center will serve as a single space for parts of the campus to come together to help students.
According to the University System of Georgia’s website, the ALC will “place KSU’s campus-wide tutoring, advising, ESL, supplemental instruction, and learning assistants programs in the ALC … making it a one-stop center for academic student support.”
The USG website also mentions that the idea of the ALC is part of a national effort named Gateways to Completion, a program started by the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education. The purpose is to improve student performance rates in classes that have traditionally high failure rates. KSU is one of 10 USG institutions participating in G2C.
The new ALC will be located near parking lot C, north of the James V. Carmichael Student Center, with a budget of approximately $35 million.
If the ALC budget passes the Senate, the construction of the building will be finished by 2020, according to the USG website.
