 "Photo: Natalie Carillo")
The Center for International Studies and the Honors Department are settling into their new offices after a three-day move-in, where the two offices switched places.
Staff at the CFIS moved into their new location at Elliot Hall near Old College. The new officeofficially opened on Oct. 30.
The Honors Department moved to 186 South College Ave., but still has not finished unpacking. According to Alan Fox, the director of the Honors Program, the department will probably be disrupted until sometime this week.
Fox said by the beginning of this week the department will reach a semblance of normalcy.
“It’s an interruption for us, but we’re determined to make the best of it,” he said.
Lesa Griffiths, associate provost for the center for international studies, said the move was primarily made to accommodate an expanded CFIS and to consolidate staff previously spread between two buildings. She said Elliot Hall was the largest building available.
Griffiths said this move is the first step toward creating an Institute for Global Studies, which was outlined in the university’s Path to Prominence. The building will continue to provide support for students in study abroad programs, but will take on other functions, as well.
It will provide a space for visiting international scholars. It will also be home to programs that are global in nature like the Latin American studies and East Asian studies programs.
Griffiths said there are also ongoing discussions with Xiamen University in China to open a center for Chinese culture and studies.
“We hope we will create more opportunities for students involved in global studies,” Griffiths said.
The center is now located next to Jastak-Burgess Hall, which is the home of the foreign language offices. Griffiths said this was not factored into the decision and was just a coincidence.
The move was not without one interruption. On Nov. 2, as doors were reopening, there was some confusion on where to take a visiting delegation from China. The Blue Hen Ambassador giving the tour first took the delegation to the South College site, before discovering the move.
Griffiths said she does not believe the move disrupted any students, for the most part. Most of the staff continued to contact students via e-mail message.
Fox said the Honors Department was able to function during the move and the unpacking.
“The minimum of what we need, we have,” he said.
Fox said the move was timed to come before approaching study abroad deadlines in early November, in order to disrupt students as little as possible. However, it was done for the convenience of the Center for International Studies, not for the Honors Department.
“We would have done it a different time,” Fox said. “But we’ll get back on track as soon as we can.”
The Honors Department helps 1,800 students, mostly through e-mail. The Center for International Studies helps 1,200 to 1,500 students as they travel abroad he said.
Junior Adriel Andrade has used the CFIS to discuss possible study abroad programs pertaining to his major. He likes the new location for the center.
“Having Jastak-Burgess next door allows them to work together,” Andrade said. “It gives students a better sense of where to go for study abroad programs.”
Both the Honors Department and CFIS are happy in their new locations.
“It’s nice we’re next to undergraduate research, admissions, and Hullihen Hall,” Fox said.
Griffiths also likes the new location for reasons not pertaining to academia.
“On the one hand, our location on central campus was convenient,” she said. “On the other hand, it’s nice to walk out the backdoor and see something so beautiful. It’s inspiring.”
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