Student Services settle into (A) new permanent home

A and T buildings now open and operational

Students+walk+around+the+renovated+A+building+at+San+Diego+City+College.

David Ahumada

The second floor of the A building now houses important programs like Financial Aid, First Year Services and the Assessment Center.

David Ahumada, News Editor

City College’s Student Health Services used to be located in the E building, facing Park Boulevard near San Diego High School. Mental Health Services was located on the bottom floor of the BT building, located on the northwest corner of 16th & C. For some students, the distance was beyond inconvenient.

“If a patient wasn’t feeling either emotionally, physically or mentally well, (they had) to make that walk across campus,” said Debbie Helm, nurse practitioner at Student Health Services. “Sometimes they wouldn’t make it.”

Now both services are located together in a single space in the A building.“It’s amazing,” Helm said. “Now the only thing patients have to do is walk down a hallway.”  

The 52,000-square-foot renovated A building is now open, and most of the departments have been moved into their permanent homes. Others are scheduled to move throughout the semester.

“It’s great that we have provided modern buildings for our faculty and staff to use,” said Chris Manis, vice chancellor of facilities management for the San Diego Community College District. “We still have a bit of fine tuning and some graphics to put up.”

Accounting, Enrollment Services, Student Success Programs, Financial Aid and the Disability Support Program and Services are now all located together in the A building. The President’s office, Counseling, Peer Mentors and the Transfer Career Center and Evaluations have also moved in.

Engineering and Machine Technology are now housed in the also recently opened T building which has refurbished classrooms and new equipment for programs like CNC Machining, HVAC and Refrigeration, as well as the MESA program and the Center for Applied Competitive Technology.

One of the final construction projects on campus will also start soon. Ground will break on the new Child Development Center in summer 2019.

“The process is currently in drafting, soon will be budgeted and bid on, then sent to the Board of Trustees in April, and construction will start during summer,” Manis said.

The project will be funded by Proposition S and is expected to be finished February 2020, according to the district’s Rainbow Report.  

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