A new construction project awaiting approval from the Board of Regents will help alleviate the pressures of Kennesaw State’s growing population, according to university officials.
The Office of the Registrar reports that more than 35,000 students enrolled during the 2016-2017 school year, and many students are concerned that the school does not have available space for the rising population. A new facility called the Academic Learning Center, or ALC, will address this issue.
According to Craig VanDevere, a director of University Facilities Services, the goal of the center is to create a space where a variety of departments can collaborate in a singular unit for student assistance.
VanDevere said the ALC, one of several construction projects on the university’s wish list, 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 & Development.
It will feature a general tutoring center as well as foreign language tutoring. The building will also house classrooms that all departments will be able to use.
VanDevere said the project has been in the works for the past decade, and the Board of Regents gave authorization two years ago to move forward on design funding. A design has been in the works for the past year.
The next step is to get construction approved, which VanDevere hopes will be on the Board of Regents’ agenda next spring. If the proposal is approved, construction will begin in fall 2019.
When construction is completed, the building will be located where parking lot C, the lot north of the Student Center on the Kennesaw campus, is. The budget for the building is around $35 million.
