Today’s students adeptly use technology to complete coursework, handle administrative tasks and research program opportunities. While this is especially true post-pandemic, many students continue to seek in-person support to optimize their Student Services experience. With the “modern student” in mind, our design team was tasked with how to reinvent the traditional student service model to better align with the students of today, and more importantly, the students of tomorrow. Lone Star College-Montgomery’s new Maverick Student Services Center supports each person’s unique student services support needs, whether one-on-one, small group, or virtual.
Lone Star Innovation – A New Student Services Delivery Model
HarrisonKornberg’s design of this new facility fosters successful interactions between students and staff with meeting spaces offering appropriate privacy levels in a welcoming, intuitive, stress-free setting. The entry and lobby spaces offer an inviting atmosphere where students can meet, collaborate, or just relax throughout the semester, while being large and flexible enough to accommodate peak registration periods. Added amenities including a study lounge, espresso bar, and covered outdoor seating transform the building into a year-round student hub.
For many, the words “academic advising” strike a sense of dread. This is likely due to the stress and anxiety of the traditional student experience – an experience that leaves students feeling like they are just a number. To break away from this traditionally stressful experience, we set out to curate a welcoming, personable, and modern student-focused center that enhances the student experience. To accomplish this, we outlined and accomplished four project goals:
1. Employ intuitive wayfinding
2. Provide secure, functional, and comfortable work environments and facilities for staff
3. Present a modern, dynamic, and engaging aesthetic
4. Re-imagine the service model to improve efficiency and student satisfaction
For the mostly hands-off student, we implemented a self-service kiosk, modeled after the Apple store experience. For the student who needs a little bit of help getting started, we created registration rooms that can service a small group of students who need a little more hands-on help with an advisor. For the student that needs one-on-one help, we created huddle rooms where staff can engage with students.
After being helped, students can either head to their next class, grab some caffeine at the coffee bar, or hang out in the sitting areas before their next class – all without breaking the privacy and security of the staff’s working environment.
The new building is centrally located in the heart of campus between the main quad and the vehicular drop-off at Maverick Drive. It serves as an iconic gateway and prominent focal point on campus for students, visitors and staff. It houses administrative and student support functions in an easy-to-use, state-of-the-art facility that prioritizes intuitive way-finding, functional flow and social spaces. In addition to providing ongoing student support, the building also provides much-needed conference space to serve the broader community.
Rebecca Riley, Former LSC Montgomery President (Retired)We don’t have anything like this on this campus, or we haven’t up until this point… We expect this to be booked all the time. We’re already getting phone calls like crazy. The new facility will help LSC Montgomery better serve both its students and the community. It really allows us to do things that we’ve always wanted to do and had to sort of hobble together or couldn’t do at all. We have the ability to serve people a little better this way.”
