New student services building on track for October dedication

As students arrive on the doorsteps of SMU this fall, they willbe greeted with the sight of a new administration building.

The Laura Lee Blanton Building, scheduled for dedication on Oct.31, will be a primary contact for visitors and prospectivestudents, said Lisa Chou, vice president of Developmental andExternal Affairs for SMU.

In addition to Enrollment Services, it will also houseSMU’s Information Technology office, a new InternationalCenter and the SMU-in-Taos program.

The four-story, 63,000 sq. ft. building located at theuniversity’s East Quad at SMU Boulevard and Airline Roadshould be completed by Oct. 1.

The building, which broke ground in February of last year, hadan estimated completion cost of $14.8 million.

The Division of Enrollment Services, which consists ofUndergraduate Admissions, Financial Aid, Student Financial Servicesand the Registrar’s Office, will take up the bulk of thebuilding’s space.

However, the first people to move in to the new building will beInformation Technology.

“We will be moving in after the IT people. They will be onthe fourth floor and we will be on the bottom three floors, sincewe’re a much larger group and we’ll need the IT peopleto set up our computer systems,” Kathy Rowe of EnrollmentServices said.

SMU’s IT Services provides a university-wide help desk,academic computing, telecommunications, applications support,technology training, computer sales, instructional resourcesapplications, telephone and network support, security and the ITServices webmaster.

The International Office serves international students, scholarsand parents. The center is also responsible for the 18 SMU studyabroad programs.

The SMU-in-Taos program offers students the opportunity to studyat Fort Burgwin in northern New Mexico where summer courses areoffered in the humanities, sciences and in studio and performingarts.

Images of the building are on the university’s Web athttp://www.smu.edu/blanton via the Blanton cam.