Student Services Center Dedication —
May 11, 2007
Welcome to the new gateway to our university. Located in the heart of our campus, this Student Services Center will be the first welcoming stop for prospective students, visitors, alumni, and community members. This center is strategically located on Lyman Lane, which is developing into the new “main” street for our downtown area, and it will be a hub for student life.
The Student Services Center will be one of the most visited facilities on campus. This is where students will make the transition from prospective student, to admitted student, to current student. It will also be the starting point for our campus tours. It’s expected that we’ll have at least 40,000 visitors participating in the campus tours each year.
This center is also a central resource for current students. It houses many student services including Admissions and Enrollment Services, Financial Aid, the Registrar, Student Business Services, the Office of Graduate Studies, Student Policy and Judicial Affairs, and the Triton Center, among many others. This new facility boasts state-of-the-art offices, large conference rooms and a 300-person capacity Triton multipurpose room. All of the rooms will be available for student organizations to reserve, and the community can also reserve the Triton Center multipurpose room for weekend events.
Just about all of the center’s 400 employees have moved in, and the two restaurants will be opening soon. The second floor restaurant is expected to open some time in the summer. And the first floor dessert shop should open in the fall.
As you tour the building today, you’ll notice the top floors offer some of the best panoramic views of campus and University City. You’ll also notice the building has wide patios and open space with trees, shade and seating, for those who want to soak up the campus environment. Also, look for the blue and gold tiling, a unique UCSD touch, and our university seal proudly displayed above the multipurpose room entrance.
I’d also like to point out, this center was designed with sustainability in mind. The third and fourth floors have central skylights, and most rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows. The large windows will allow sunlight in, meeting the majority of daytime lighting needs. At the same time, a recycled plastic lumbar sun screen provides shading over south and west facing glass to help cool the building. All of the lighting fixtures are high-efficiency and environmentally-friendly. The restroom tiles were created from recycled glass. And the partitions and countertops were manufactured from recycled plastic. These are just a few of the sustainable features and designs.
Thank you for being here today to celebrate the new Student Services Center, and the exciting commencement of our downtown neighborhood and epicenter for student life.
This is a historic moment for the campus and a great accomplishment for UC San Diego.
