THE
FRONT PAGE Serving Front Range Community College Since 1989
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
NEWS Financial Aid Basics
frontpage@frontrange.edu
FRCC’s Makeover: Campus
Volume 22, Issue 07
Construction
All you need to know about your Financial Aid, the process, instructions, and more.
page 08
LIFE Bike MS 2011 in CO
Bikers ride & fundraise to help find a cure for Multiple Sclerosis.
Many changes are in process at the Front Range Community College Westminster campus, including a new Student Services (Photos by Kathleen Timbol) Center, more classrooms, faculty offices, and possibly a new theater.
By Rachel Hamilton
Between 2006 and 2008, Front Range Community College, Westminster campus’ state board and college administration came together with a plan to reinvent the campus’ student center and a number of instructional facilities. Construction began this past spring. page 04 Administration first recognized a problem once the 34-year-old ENTERTAINMENT building was no longer providing efficiently allocated space for the Ian ever-growing population of stuSomerhalder dents and faculty. Designed as a long narrow strucIs there such ture, the campus was originally a thing as a “good” vampire? built in order to maximize solar energy collection, but this has made it particularly difficult for students to identify the critical Student Services offices. In addition, the main entrance was located a sizeable distance from the Student Services offices which page 06 made these offices even more
difficult to find. Moreover, students were beginning to feel uncomfortable in the poorly arranged campus environment; specifically, the Dean of Student Services is located between entrance two and three, Admissions and Records is located at entrance three where students will also find the Cashier’s office, while the Advising and Testing Center is located on Level B. FRCC President Andy Dorsey and the administration and construction staff aim to achieve a “One-Stop Shop” located near entrance two on the main level at the end of the construction. This new space will include Admissions and Records, Financial Aid, Cashier’s Office, Advising, Testing, the Dean of Student Services, Call Center, Outreach and Recruitment. In addition to this construction, more faculty offices will be cre-
ated. But more importantly, offices will be more properly distributed to cater to the large population of part-time faculty. “Now that part-timers teach well over 70% of all sections, it is critical that the college finds ways to support them with environments that let them interact easily with each other and with full-time faculty,” the project committee and former Vice President Andy Dorsey, discussed during the beginning stages of the project proposal. Reutilizing the newly vacant spaces of the Admissions, Enrollment, Financial Aid, and the Dean of Instruction center will help bridge the gap between part-time faculty and full-time faculty creating a more communicative and integrated environment. For students, this layout will allow them to get assistance from their instructors all in one place. Read on to page 02...