By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
As Fort Hays State University students settle into a new year at the university, a newly open facility is providing services that bridge the gap between the classroom and life in one convenient building.
"That's our one-stop-shop for student services and student engagement and it is phenomenal," said Fort Hays State University president Tisa Mason of the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success.
While final details continue to be applied to the building, she invites the public to visit.
"I hope people in the community will come to campus and walk through it and see it," Mason said. "Our first floor has a beautiful welcome center which is still under construction, but it should be done by Homecoming."
In the entryway is the Tiger Pact, a pledge by students to support the community, opening up to academic engagement and career services.
"If you have any issues outside of the classroom you are questioning or need some help with, the first floor is there for you," said Joey Linn, vice president for Student Affairs at Fort Hays State University.
"The second floor is our student engagement center, which is phenomenal and the way the bridge connects the Memorial Union to that building was so thoughtful," Mason said.
Students have already taken to studying in the space in between classes, she said.
With offices for student groups like Fraternity/Sorority Life, Student Government and other student groups, Linn said he expects it to be a hub of activity.
"I suspect lights will be on all the time on the second floor," he said.
At the top of the new building, a holistic approach to student health has been adopted, merging different health care types into one place.
"The third floor is the health and wellness service floor, which really combines our Kelly Center, our counseling, mental health services with our student health services," Linn said.
"I love that we are merging the Kelly Center and Student Health on the third floor and renamed it Health and Student Wellness," Mason said.
Linn said because they work so closely together having them in one shared space is important to get a well-rounded approach to student well-being.
"I remember Richard and Dolores saying that 'we want to help students, that's what we want to do. That's our legacy,' Linn said. "And when I explained what our concept was and what our dream was of the center, they were just like, 'This is it.'"
And while the new facility will provide space for on-campus students to prosper during the academic tenure, he said it will also be of use to the university's expansive virtual college.
"We are going to be doing live webinars, workshops, video workshops," Linn said. "We are going to be there for our virtual college students to reach out."
But to make that work, cutting-edge communications technologies must be in place, and the new center fits the bill.
"It's important to have the absolute top-of-the-line infrastructure," Linn said. "That's one thing Fort Hays State University has done, we have put our money where our mouth is and we have invested in our technology."
But sadly, those virtual students may not be able to take in the new views created by the center regularly.
"When you look out the windows you see our beautiful quad," Mason said.
Fort Hays State University Alumni Association communications coordinator Noelle Husmann said homecoming would present an opportune time to visit the new center.
"We are having a ribbon cutting with the chamber on Friday, Oct. 1 for the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success and we to invite all of the alumni in the community, all the community members come in and see this really cool building."
