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The three new $38.9 million
Southwest Campus residence halls, located on the corner
of Providence and Stadium, replace Smith, Donnelly and Blair
halls. The project is covered by Residential Life revenues.
View the 2006
Campus Master Plan or check out the construction
history of nearly 100 MU buildings.
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MU
Busy Building and Beautifying Campus
By Terry Ganey
Students aren't wearing hard hats, but walking
between classes on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia
has the feel of a construction site.
New residence halls are going up, a new journalism
building is under construction and there are plans to expand the
Brady Commons student center.
“The campus construction projects
point to a bright future and a lot of growth,” said Scott
Radloff, a junior majoring in journalism advertising. Radloff
is from Tampa, Fla., and is one of the 28,000 students attending
MU.
From fall 2004 to fall 2005, MU enrollment
increased by 3.6 percent, and since 2000, total enrollment has
increased by 20 percent. The growth has taken place despite increases
in tuition during the same period.
More than 265 degree programs draw students
to MU. It is one of only six public universities in the country
that have a law school,
a medical
school and a school
of veterinary medicine in the same location.
The new $20 million College
Avenue residence hall will provide 345 new beds for students
this fall. It is located near the College Avenue bridge
and the Virginia Avenue residence halls and dining facility.
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At the same time, MU is two institutions in
one — a place for students to learn and for major research
to take place. Mizzou is among the top 15 universities in the
nation in life science research funding from the National
Science Foundation.
There's a growing emphasis on MU's economic
development potential. In addition to turning out graduates, the
school is focusing more on creating jobs and generating research
dollars through new facilities such as the Christopher
S. Bond Life Sciences Center and the Discovery
Ridge Research Park. But for students such as Radloff, tradition
and reputation attracted him to Mizzou. His father graduated from
MU's College of Business
in 1975 with a degree in marketing.
“I chose MU because of the reputation
of the journalism school,
the oldest one in the world,” Radloff said. “The alumni
who come out of the journalism school are all over the place.”
Radloff is looking forward to the completion
of the Donald
W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, financed by a $31.5 million
donation, the largest private contribution ever made to the University.
To house the institute, the university is erecting one new building
and renovating two others on Francis Quadrangle. The institute
will focus on advanced studies in journalism and its role in the
democratic process.
MU is renovating the
Sociology Building and Walter Williams Hall and is building
a major addition between the two for the Donald W. Reynolds
Journalism Institute. The Reynolds Foundation gave the University
$31.5 million for the Institute in February 2004. Contractors
are temporarily using a portion of the Quad north of the
Columns to store construction materials and machinery and
will restore the area when the project concludes.
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“It’s going to be great for me,”
Radloff said. “I will be able to use it my senior year.
It will be a great hands-on lab. New equipment that’s not
even on the market yet will be tested there.”
The University is amid a more than $300 million
plan to rebuild or replace all 19 of its residence halls, many
of which were constructed in the 1960s or earlier. The rebuilding
plans will continue until 2018, with many of the new residence
halls containing bedroom suites and computer-equipped study areas.
The Residential
Life Master Plan is supported by Residential
Life revenues; each phase of the plan is financially self-supporting.
“I think it's
great that the campus is building new residence halls and improving
student life on campus,” said Jessie Fox, a senior majoring
in political science
and pre-law.
Fox, who lives in Kansas City, had not considered
attending MU after graduating high school.
“I started looking at smaller,
private schools but came to visit a friend down here,” she
said. “I fell in love with the college-town atmosphere.
The student body was great. I loved the campus. It was beautiful.”
As a freshman, Fox lived in on-campus housing,
and as a sophomore and junior, she lived in a sorority house.
“I was wary starting out because
you never know what it's going to be like living with 89 girls,”
Fox said. “It's a fantastic experience in making friends,
and it creates a great atmosphere to live in and study in.”
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Construction will start
in November 2006 on the MU Student Center and Brady Commons
expansion. MU is adding 101,050 gross square feet of new
space for student services, programming, food service and
the more than 400 student organizations. Phase I will be
completed in 2008 and Phase II by 2010.
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There will be more places to study in the
expanded Brady Commons student center, another campus building
project. Study and lounge space as well as meeting space will
triple in size under the plans.
Radloff said expanding the student center
will give a growing student population more dining choices and
greater opportunities for organizations to get together.
In April 2005, Mizzou students passed a referendum
to help expand and renovate Brady Commons through student fees.
Half of the $58.7 million project is funded by self-supporting
Student Affairs auxiliary services and half is funded through
student fees.
Because of a drop in state appropriations
to public colleges and universities, tuition at Missouri institutions
has steadily increased. In 2000, tuition and fees accounted for
36 percent of MU's budget, while appropriations covered 56 percent.
In 2006, tuition covered 46 percent of the university’s
budget, compared to 39 percent covered by state appropriations.
Note: Republished with permission, Columbia
Tribune, June 25, 2006.
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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