University of Wisconsin students and staff will soon be able to access a variety of student services on campus housed on nine floors of the new University Square building.
The top three floors will house the Registrar and Bursar Offices, as well as the Financial Aid and Transcripts Office. Student Print, WSUM 91.7 FM, the student-run Business Incubator and the ASM offices will permanently occupy space on the lower floors of the building, according to the facilities planning and management architect Julie Grove.
Grove said University Health Services will move into the building and create a more central location for students and will include a new pharmacy, fully staffed and equipped with over-the-counter drugs such as cold medicines.
“There are 50 new exam rooms. That’s over half of what UHS currently has,” Grove said. “And there are counseling services, group therapy rooms, massage rooms, physical therapy services and extended care rooms.”
The third and fourth floors are designated to the Student Activity Center and features state-of-the-art meeting and conference rooms, study areas, a lounge with a fireplace and a set of oversized carpeted stairs, a multipurpose room, a terrace, a student-art lined gallery hallway and a kitchen for organizations to reserve for cooking.
According to Lauren Vollrath, Student Activity Center Governing Board chair, these floors will be home to 63 student organizations, including the MultiCultural Student Coalition, Undergraduate Theatre Association, German Club, Phi Beta Lambda and the College Democrats.
“The governing board allocated the spaces on Sunday,” Vollrath said. “They still have some storage space to allocate. The [63 organizations] will be notified sometime this week about what space they’ll receive.”
The SAC Governing Board reviewed about 100 applications for the space. Based on the application, an interview process and certain criteria for evaluation, the organizations were ranked and then selected for the offices.
Four different spaces offered — suites are 750 square feet, large offices are 150 square feet, medium offices are 120 square feet, and cubicles or small offices are 50 square feet. The offices will be furnished.
“Right now the Associated Students of Madison office is on the fifth floor of the Memorial Union,” said Jamie Stark, a freshman representative for ASM. “It’s a much smaller space than compared to the big and beautiful space here (in University Square).”
Stark said it almost seems like a third union, where students can come by and hang out or study. She added there would be better visibility and organization among the students, the services offered and the student organizations.
All of the offices are scheduled to open to UW students and staff by Jan. 20.
