OCC project aims to improve service to students

ONONDAGA - Onondaga Community College (OCC) is nearly finished with a $10 million construction project that will change the way it conducts business with students.

A renovation and addition to the Gordon Student Center is scheduled to be finished in March. The 16,000-square-foot addition will

The idea is for students to be able to go to one location for needs like registration, billing, and financial aid. Student Central will have a staff of professionals who will be able to handle nearly all student questions, says Joseph Rufo, OCC's chief financial officer.

"We had students who would have to go to 10 different offices in five different buildings. We had people in those offices who were specialists," Rufo says. "We've transformed that into having an entire staff of generalists out front."

If one of those "generalists" can't help or doesn't know the answer to a question, there will be specialists on site so students can still accomplish everything with a trip to one location.

The addition will also house a call center staffed with the same professionals.

The project is funded by bonds. Half the bonds are issued through the county and the other half through the Dormitory Authority of New York State.

King & King Architects, LLP in Manhus is the architect on the project and ConMas, Inc. of Binghamton is the general contractor.

Gordon is also slated for an upgrade to its cafeteria area, Rufo says. The college plans to spend $1.9 million on that project, which will begin this summer.

The cafeteria will probably be gutted and transformed into a food court, Rufo says. There are no firm plans yet, however, and the college is still deciding exactly how to update the space.

Both construction projects arose from a facilities master plan the college completed in 2002. The plan, done by Glens Fall-based JMZ Architects, was meant to guide OCC's building plans for a decade.

It included 27 groups of projects and called for about $79 million in spending. The college has secured about $38 million in funding so far.

The Gordon Student Center renovation was the largest project contained in the plan, Rufo says. Many of the dollars are aimed at general maintenance, energy efficiency, and health-and-safety upgrades.

OCC's original buildings are about 35 years old. The Gordon Student Center was finished in the early 1970s.

"One-hundred percent of the inside is being touched there," says Jay Reinhardt, director of campus facilities and public safety. "There ... [are] sprinklers going in and other maintenance going on there."

The Gordon projects are nearing completion at the same time the college is constructing its first residence halls. The $19.3 million project is being financed by 30-year bonds issued by the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency.

The project includes three buildings, comprising a total of 150,000 square feet and 512 beds. The halls will open in the fall of 2006. Kideney Architects of Buffalo designed the halls and the general contractor is Syracuse-based Hueber Breuer Construction Co., Inc.