SMC Celebrates New Student Services Center With Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
To end Homecoming weekend and to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Santa Monica College (SMC) being established, SMC held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Student Service Center (SSC) on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
The ceremony took place inside the SSC. Originally it was going to be outside to overlook the modern, sleek design of the new building. Due to the hot weather conditions, however, it was held inside of the Orientation hall. The ceremony featured the who's-who of Santa Monica from SMC students, faculty, alumni, council members, Board of Trustees, and the community of Santa Monica. All were welcomed to take in this moment.
The new SSC was designed to help students find all core services under one roof, a “one-stop-shop” for student needs. Among the programs located in the building are Admissions, Financial Aid, Career Services, Center for Students with Disabilities, Black Collegians, Student and Judicial Affairs, just to name a few.
The design of the new building was the eye-catcher. Tim Felchin, one of the lead architects, started working on the design back in 2013. He stated that “ first the process was to organize the building so it work well, having an interior street leading into the building, like having a mall approach having all the departments open so students can find them easily. Having the departments interact with each other to help student needs.”
The ceremony started with a welcome from SMC President Dr. Kathryn Jeffery that led into a performance from the cheer squad, who waved their pom-poms to excite the crowd. Dr. Jeffery then acknowledged the people who were involved in the creation of the SSC building. She told the story of how long the building was in the works, even going back to when she was a counselor at SMC. Having a personal connection with this project, seeing it come to fruition was special to her. She stated, “This is an amazing opportunity for our students, almost all of our services are in this building. I love seeing our students in the building, also the feel of it, the programs are closely located. Making it easier for the students' interactions.”
Dr. Jeffery finished her acknowledgments by thanking the Board of Trustees, the community of Santa Monica, and the Bond program for funding the project.
Board of Trustees chair Dr. Margaret Quiñones-Perez offered a few remarks. The Associated Students (A.S.) president Daniel Cha and Mike Tuitasi, Vice President of Student Affairs, also gave their own remarks on how they felt about the enhancement of the SSC. When Tuitasi was giving his remarks, he stated that “there was an increase in student services” and “double the interactions.”
It was shocking to everyone in the building once they heard how hard it was for new and returning students to get around SMC's main campus. SMC found a convenient way to accommodate its students and staff after years of runarounds. The new SSC looks like it’s here to stay.