Office of Student Life sports new look

The next time you venture into the Office of Student Life (OSL) in El Paso Hall, Room E-040, you may not recognize it. The same faces are there, but the office will soon sparkle with a fresh, new look.

Renovations began in Oct. 2010 and should be finished by the third week of February.

Facilities Director Eddie Hueston said the new OSL office is exactly the same size (1,437 square feet) as the old one, but it will give employees much more usable space.

"One of the things that is unique – the north wall. It has always had a concrete slab. It's below ground level. That north wall was always cold," Hueston said. "We were able to come in and put in insulation. Also, lighting will be much better in there. They will have energy T-8 bulbs. It uses much less electricity and puts out more light."

Hueston said half the campus was built in 1973 and much of it is outdated.

"Computers didn't exist back then," Hueston said. "It's an update of everything that was in there in 1973."

The OSL renovation is the last phase of the "Adaptive Re-use Project," Hueston said. The updates were paid for with bond money, which also paid for the conversion of Hondo Hall (formerly home of the horticulture program), building the new police headquarters and the conversion of El Paso Hall from the cafeteria south to Thunderduck Hall.  The cost for the OSL renovation is $61,672.   

In May 2004, voters approved a $450 million bond package for improvements at  the seven campuses of the Dallas County Community College District. It also included building five new campuses:  Garland, Pleasant Grove, west Dallas, southern Irving and Coppell.

Bobbie Harrison, director of OSL, said she and her staff are excited about the upgrade because they will have a little bit more space.

"It hasn't been updated in years. We're happy to get a place that looks like the other part of the campus," Harrison said. "We look forward to being in our new office, but we learned that we have so much [extra stuff]."