Campus improvements enhance learning environment for UTSA students

A new study lounge in the Business Building (BB 3.04.16) gives students a place to collaborate and focus on learning.

(Sept. 3, 2019) -- Students, faculty and staff will notice a variety of enhancements to the facilities on UTSA’s campuses this semester. Over the summer and throughout 2019, the UTSA Facilities team has been busy completing more than two dozen renovation and improvement projects around the Main and Downtown Campuses. The projects were completed to foster student success, create a positive and vibrant campus environment for the entire UTSA community, and to support UTSA’s growing student population. 

Renovation projects were completed to enhance collaboration, inclusiveness, and functionality:

• A collaboration and study area on the third floor of the Flawn Building replaced old cubicles – a project requested by students;
• A studio was converted to a student study lounge in the Business Building (BB 3.04.16);
• A McKinney Lecture Hall (MH 2.01.12) was modified to improve accessibility for wheelchair-bound students;
• Two women’s restrooms and one men’s restroom were renovated on the fourth floor of the John Peace Library (JPL). Additionally, a men’s restroom and an all-gender restroom were added for capacity and inclusiveness;
• Offices were renovated in the Main Building for the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs and Vice President for Business Affairs. The renovations allow more staff to occupy the same amount of space and have created a more open and accessible environment, allowing faculty and staff who focus on the university’s academic and business priorities to better serve students from a centralized location.

Additionally, UTSA civil and structural engineering students are now conducting research in the Large Scale Testing Laboratory. Located on the northwest side of the Main Campus, adjacent to Loop 1604, the building features a laboratory with two cranes that each have a 30-ton capacity for loading, unloading and transporting heavy specimens. Students, faculty and staff are conducting research in the building that simulates a wide range of building- and bridge-related structural challenges, including high cycle fatigue, earthquakes and blast loads.

At the Downtown Campus, a new Health Clinic in the Buena Vista Building (BVB 1.308) is providing medical services to students. Fiscal Services has a new location in the Frio Building (FS 2.402) and the Downtown Campus Police and Public Safety Office has relocated to the Frio Building (FS 1.528).

Several indoor and outdoor lighting projects will improve safety and sustainability:

• In the Flawn Building, 5,000 florescent lamps were replaced with LED lamps throughout the building to increase lighting levels and reduce energy consumption;
• Exterior lighting upgrades were made throughout UTSA campuses;
• The LED lighting at the UTSA Monuments was replaced to enhance colors and visibility.

Over the summer, several maintenance projects were completed:

• JPL passenger elevators received cabin and controls upgrades;
• A 500-ton chiller used to provide air conditioning to the Downtown Campus was replaced;
• Air conditioning equipment serving the Convocation Center was enhanced;
• Two 1970s vintage steam boilers in the Thermal Energy Plant were replaced with three new boilers to increase capacity and improve reliability of heating to the Main Campus buildings;
• Floors throughout campus buildings were cleaned and waxed; and
• Pavement and walkways around the Main and Downtown Campuses were soft-washed

“Our Facilities team has worked very hard this summer to upgrade our Main and Downtown campus facilities and to create an environment that supports the success of our students, faculty and staff,” said Veronica Mendez, UTSA senior vice president for Business Affairs.

To foster success and the student experience, the UTSA Office of Facilities team has now turned its attention to new projects including construction of the Student Success Center. The complex, between the McKinney Humanities Building and North Paseo Building, will consolidate the university’s undergraduate advising services and select support programs into one area on campus to make it easier for students to access academic support programs and student success resources. The facility is expected to be complete by spring 2020.

A new Downtown Campus Recreation Center, complete with fitness machines, weights, and a separate exercise room is under construction in the Frio Building (FS 1.504) and will be ready for students to use later this fall.

Crews are also expected to break ground this fall on Guadalupe Hall, UTSA’s newest living and learning community. It is expected to be ready for freshman who will move in for the fall 2021 semester.

— Courtney Clevenger

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