Hi I'm Amy Timoney with UK Public Relations, and I'm here today with Dr. Eric Monday who's
the Vice President for Finance and Administration at UK.
Thanks so much for being here.
Glad to be here, Amy.
So usually we go outside and take out campus walks, but today, we are inside--thank goodness
because it's snowing outside--so that we can give you a preview of the new Student Center.
So, we're here in entrance where we do have Champion's Kitchen open.
Tell us a little bit about the scope of this project and the timeline.
What happens next?
Sure, so this is a $201 million dollar project, and this is, I think, one of those centerpiece
projects of our complete capital transformation on campus.
So, we opened phase one, which is Champion's Kitchen as you referenced a few weeks ago.
We'll open phase two, which is the vast majority of the building, here in another month or
two, and then in May, we'll open the rest--the rec facility and all of that will be completely
open and operational in May.
So a lot of numbers, a lot of timelines, but really it's not just about the building, right?
It's about the students that use it.
Sure, so when we think about the Student Center, it really is that.
It is the place for our students to feel at home, to be comfortable, where they can see
all of these services, where they can build community, where they can interact with their
fellow students, and build those memories for a lifetime.
So that's what this building...
That's why we're so excited about getting to May and being fully operational.
It really is…
It builds on that theme of the students being at the center, and this is the evidence of
it: a great facility.
And speaking of that, students are coming in and actually using Champion's Kitchen.
What's your favorite part about this new dining facility?
I love that it's such a great mix of not only our students, but we have our faculty and
staff.
I mean, we use that word "community," but how do you evidence that?
By facilities that can support that.
And to whether it's colleagues getting together, a faculty member and a student, two staff
members, it really provides this opportunity for us to sit-- "break bread" as our president
talks about-- and build relationships.
Why does a facility like this help with not just, you know, giving students great food
to eat, but also helping with overall student success goals?
Sure.
Well, I mean, when we talk about wellness, and we think about students that are well,
and taking actions that are well, we're thinking about how they recreate, they eat, their financial
wellness, we're thinking about health wellness, all of those things.
When we think about dining and nutrition, a facility like this where there's a reasonably
priced meal option for our students.
We're having local food and we're supporting that, and we're also to build that community
around the table.
I mean, 10 students that are, have a higher level of wellness perform better.
They retain better.
They persist at higher levels.
They graduate at higher levels.
They have better careers.
And so, the more we can create facilities that support those goals, the more successful
our students are.
I think sometimes when people see such an amazing building, like the Student Center,
and they go inside Champion's Kitchen, they might wonder about the cost of constructing
all of these new buildings.
How do you-- how do you respond to that?
So, it's about $2.2 billion over the last six years in new facilities across this campus.
Only about 10 percent is being funded from the state.
The other 90 percent is being funded from the university from our donors and from our
partners.
And we think about Champion's Kitchen, it's our dining partner that helped us successfully
build and operate and maintain this facility.
Our dining partners invest over $75 million dollars on our campus and our facilities.
Our housing partner: over $450 million dollars.
So, it really helps us achieve access and affordability by looking at those partnerships,
and seeing how we can build these great spaces.
Absolutely.
Well we've see inside this area where everyone can come visit, but now we're actually going
to see what's on the other side of that wall and gives folks a sneak peek to the inside
of the Student Center, which will be opening soon.
So, Eric, we are in a space that I think a lot of people have been so excited to see.
I know that I've been excited to see it: the social staircase.
What's the idea behind the social staircase?
It's belonging, right?
We talk about being a welcoming place, and that's wonderful and we need to achieve that,
but what's that next step?
The next step is for students to feel that they belong.
And how do you evidence that?
Now this is our second step of social stairs.
Our first set is over in Gatton, and so it provides a place to be seen, to build that
community, to build belonging, to build that connection with the place and with fellow
students.
So, it's an exciting part.
We did this because our students asked for this to be here in the Student Center.
How do you think it does physically add to that belonging and that feeling in this center?
Memories.
Experiences.
Relationships.
A meeting place.
A destination.
I think I'll see you at the Student Center, but hey I'll see you at the social staircase
or the social stairs in the Student Center.
And so it provides...our facilities are a proxy for what we value, right?
And what we value is the ability to build relationships, build connections, to build
community, to inspire, achieve belonging.
And it all seems like it kind of comes back to student success, right?
I mean, that's the idea behind why community and belonging are so important, right?
We talk so much about recruitment of students, retention of students, graduation of students,
careers for our students.
Our students are that center.
That's a centerpiece.
Everything we do is centered around how do we build the best environment--physically,
emotionally, from a wellness standpoint-- for our students to cross that stage and go
out and have those careers and live the lives of meaning and purpose that our president
talks about.
This is a small part of that.
Absolutely.
Well, thank you for showing us the social staircase.
Now I think we're gonna go check out another part wellness and student success which is
the recreation facility.
That's great.
So, Eric, we're here in the Alumni Gym Fitness Center, and this space is really impressive.
When you walk up those steps and you see this.
I know you're really excited about this.
I mean, 1924 facility that gets to be part of the new Student Center.
We kind of turn it back to the original purpose of recreation and fitness.
The views are unparalleled, I think.
They're just amazing views that, you asked me earlier my favorite space, this may be
my favorite space in the Student Center.
Absolutely.
I know that it's hard to envision right now, but there will be cardio equipment pieces
all throughout here, free weights.
Why is it so important that we have a space like this that encourages wellness for our
students, not just the nutrition like we talked about in Champion's Court, but the physical
side of it?
Sure.
And the location of that wellness, so we have the Johnson Center, it's a great fitness facility,
wellness facility located in the other side of our campus, but we have 2,500 students
that live on the other side of campus, so how do we respond to those students' needs?
We have a number of students who live right off campus with us in this area, in this zone
of our campus, and so it meets their needs.
But I mean, when we think about those pillars of success regardless of the institution that
we're at when we think about health, when we think about fitness, we think about wellness,
facilities like this make a difference.
So, it seems to me, just walking through here and in listening to you talk, there was a
lot of listening that you, that so many different staff members and administrators did, actually
trying to figure out what students wanted.
Why was that so important to this project?
John Herbst, our Executive Director for the Student Center, deserves a lot of credit.
A building process over years where we heard from our students.
And we dreamed about a facility like this, we dreamed about what it could be, and now
we see it.
And but it's based on what our students asked for, what they wanted: they wanted better
fitness, they wanted more social spaces, they wanted improved dining experiences, they wanted
a bookstore like no other bookstore, and all of those things are going to be in this facility
in this one 350/ 360 thousand square feet facility that brings a 1924 Alumni Gym, brings
a 1938 original Student Center, and then it expands to make this great complex that's
focused on what students asked for and what the university is gonna deliver.
When it opens, what are you gonna be feeling that day?
I think…
I think it represents such a great outcome, a great process.
I wouldn't say it's the, the number one achievement of the $2.2 billion, but it's a defining one.
We talk about quality of life of our students, and we would say that, we talk about housing
and dining and transportation and athletics and recreation, and we also talk about a Student
Center.
A defining living room for the campus, where our students feel safe, where our students
are welcomed, where our students achieve belonging, and that's what this place is for, and that's
what it's about, and that's what we're gonna achieve.
Well thank you so much for taking the time to show everyone the inside of this facility
and soon you will be able to go inside of it too.
If you want to keep track of what's going on with that, just go to uky.edu/studentcenter.
Thanks so much for joining us.
Thanks Amy.