In 2019, the University of Northern Colorado’s newest building, the Campus Commons, finished construction. The new building features a variety of offices, a pie cafe, and a 600-seat performance hall. The Campus Commons, though, has created some major changes to the UNC campus.
On March 18, several offices, including financial aid, the registrar and the bursar office, moved to the Campus Commons from Carter Hall.
According to the Director of the Financial Aid Office Marty Somero, these offices moved to the Campus Commons in order to combine all three of them in one location.
“The combining of these three service areas into one new office allows for us to integrate UNC business services for students,” Somero said in an email. “This new office is called Bear Central. It is believed that Bear Central will better support students in achieving their educational goals and enhances the student experience by delivering centralized and efficient integrated student services from these three offices in a welcoming environment.”
According to the Campus Commons website, Bear Central is a convenient location for students who need help with financial aid, billing or registration questions all in one central location.
With the move of these offices, several spaces have become vacant in Carter Hall.
According to Kirk Leichliter, the assistant vice president of facilities management, all of the other occupants of Carter Hall still remain there, except for the few offices that have moved to the Campus Commons. Leichliter mentioned Information Management and Technology, the Office of Sponsored Programs, Marketing and Advancement.
“The spaces vacated by the move to Commons are slated for several administrative units that have been located in academic buildings,” Leichliter said in an email. “They include: IM&T moving from space in Michener, Snyder and the UC, Office of Sponsored programs moving from Kepner, Marketing moving from the Trotter House and Advancement moving from the Judy Farr Center.”
Trisha Brinton, an administrator for the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, said they are not sure when the move will take place for their specific office. Brinton said their office is being relocated in order to move non-student related offices out of academic buildings.
Evan Rattenborg, the digital content specialist with marketing and web communications, said the office moved on April 17 after being in the Trotter House for about five years. The Trotter House is located at 1634 Ninth Ave.
“We were previously located in the Trotter House which will be renovated and become student housing in the future,” Rattenborg said in an email.
Rattenborg said the move does not greatly impact students or their team besides for the physical location of the office.
According to Director of Residential Education Montez Butts-Clanin, the renovations on Trotter House will begin as soon as the current occupants are out of the space, which was anticipated to be the week of April 22. It is also anticipated to house 12 upper-division students for the 2019-2020 academic year.
“The demand for upper-division housing has been steadily increasing over the past couple of years due to the tight market around campus,” Butts-Clanin said in an email. “We believe the university-owned houses are popular to students based on location, direct student billing at the beginning of each semester, and university supported maintenance as needed. Additionally, the Trotter house will provide, although limited to 12 spaces, options year-round for students such as PVA and the Little Theatre of the Rockies.”
Jenna Finley, the executive director of the campus community and climate, said there are not any major renovations needed to fix the house. A few doors with windows will need to be replaced for private spaces, as well as removing a wall that was added to subdivide a space. The house will feature single and double rooms, as well as a triple room.
“Adding this house back into housing occupancy provides more opportunities for returning students to have a different type of live-on experience,” Finley said in an email. “When we surveyed students about our houses, they indicated that the reason(s) they were looking at this type of housing was affordability, the availability of single rooms, access to kitchens and private bathrooms and proximity to classrooms.”
The offices moving to Carter Hall do not greatly affect UNC students, but it will allow for 12 more housing spaces for students.
