Luoluo Hong, University of Wisconsin’s Dean of Students, officially agreed to pair up with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Campus Center located in the Memorial Union as early as this summer to become an administrative unit of the dean’s office.

Full-time professional staff will now be added to the center in order to provide new services and programs for students. LGBT group members will continue to set the center’s main priorities and agenda and will aid in the starting of new services and programs.

“It’s important that the university shares responsibility for providing services and advocacy on behalf of LGBT students and their allies,” Hong said in a recent release. “Students should not have to do this alone. I’m very exited about this opportunity to provide improved support to both students and student organizations, as well as elevate our commitment to LGBT issues.”

When fully constructed, this new partnership will closely resemble the makeup of the McBurney Disability Resource Center and the Multicultural Student Center. Both of these centers have full-time professional staff and are units of the dean’s office but at the same time receive segregated-fee funding from the university.

According to LGBT Campus Center director Kris Johnson, additional support from the university has been a long-time goal of the center’s student leadership.

“This is something that we as a staff have really been looking for,” Johnson said. “It’s a good decision, and we’re excited to go forward with it and make it happen.”

LGBT’s current issues coordinator position in the dean’s office will now serve as the LGBT Campus Center director with the main job of overseeing the campus center student staff and operations.

The mission of the LGBT Campus Center’s mission as stated on their website is to help foster a safe campus learning environment that supports the academic, personal and interpersonal growth and development of students.

The LGBT Campus Center will continue to honor this mission and act as an information clearinghouse and referral center for relevant gender and sexual identity issues, engage students in developing and delivering educational services, maintain a safe place for students to explore and discuss issues, provide essential resources and services necessary for student success and serve as an open meeting place for all students and organizations.

Hong is predicting a smooth transition because of the “numerous issues” on which the dean’s office along and the center have worked closely together. UW students will have a chance to ask questions and give their suggestions on the new center during discussion sessions at the Memorial Union scheduled for Tuesday, April 29, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Wednesday, May 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In addition, today Dean Hong will focus on the LGBT Campus Center changes during her radio show on WSUM-FM 91.7 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Calls are encouraged.