After a summer of construction, the Welcome Center, a new student waiting area on the first floor of the Horvitz Administration Building, opened the week of Aug. 14.
The Welcome Center is located near the One-Stop Shop, across from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jacqueline A. Travisano said the Welcome Center is the result of President George Hanbury’s vision to make the Horvitz Building a comfortable, welcoming space that serves students from their first step onto the main campus through their graduation and careers.
To complete this vision, several offices moved from the Horvitz Building. Travisano said these included the Office of Finance & Operations, the Office of Facilities, the Office of Human Resources and the Office of Institutional Advancement. The Office of Enrollment and Student Services, the Office of International Student Services, the Office of
Undergraduate Admissions and the One-Stop Shop remain in the building.
Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services Stephanie Brown said the Welcome Center is where prospective students, their families and guests wait to see counselors and recruiters.
“It’s very important because we want to make a good first impression,” Brown said. “We want prospective students and their families to feel welcome, to feel that they can envision themselves here as part of the NSU family.”
Before, the area housed the Office of Financial Aid. Now, it features two TVs, blue and green chairs, sofas and a blue carpet. Colorful glass squares include pictures of students and faculty and feature facts about NSU. The tables feature electric sockets for guests to plug in their electronic devices.
“It’s welcoming, quiet, colorful,” Brown said. “You see the NSU shark displayed all around. The TV shows video of current students and what’s happening around campus.”
Travisano said the center is open to all campus visitors who want to receive information about NSU, though it’s being marketed to prospective students.
“We have a newsletter that we send out across the U.S. to high school counselors and advisers,” Brown said. “We’re going to showcase the Welcome Center and let everyone know that we have this wonderful place and we’d like foreveryone to see it and to experience it.”
Brown said others have told her the space is open, bright and welcoming.
Micheela Greer, freshman communication studies major, thinks the Welcome Center is an improvement over what the Horvitz Center used to look like. She said she believes prospective students will like the area.
“It’s much nicer,” Greer said. “They’re more seats, more places where you can come in. It’s much more welcoming.”
Travisano said, “Every day since its opening, the president and I have received positive feedback from members of the NSU community — including students, faculty and staff — regarding the new improvements to the Horvitz Building.”
Shemaiah Kenon, sophomore legal studies major, is a Student Ambassador, who meets with prospective students and gives them campus tours. She said prospective students and current students have told her they love the Welcome Center.
“It’s more comfortable. It’s more welcoming, and it definitely fits with NSU’s reputation of everything being clean, classy, conservative to the point,” Kenon said.
As a Student Ambassador, Kenon also works at the center.
“When I first came [to work after the summer], I was in shock,” Kenon said. “I didn’t know it was going to look this good. We definitely love the look.”
Jones said the Horvitz Building is still undergoing improvements. Travisano said these improvements include new spaces for the Office of Academic Advising and the Office of Career Development, which are estimated to be completed by Dec. 31, in completing President Hanbury’ s vision for the building.
Brown said that an opening reception is being planned for the Welcome Center, though a date has not been set.
“We plan to take every advantage of promoting the Welcome Center and getting as many prospective students, families, guests, visitors to come to our Welcome Center and experience a really wonderful place to be,” Brown said.
