Student Success Building

It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that I announce a plan to construct the very first building dedicated exclusively to advancing the success of students, called (appropriately enough) the Student Success Building. This much-needed facility will house in one location key academic support and wellness services to better meet the needs of our students. You can read more about it.

UCI has grown rapidly in recent years, and we now have more than 35,000 students on campus, but our capacity to meet the increased demand for support services has not kept pace due to space constraints. Student leaders have advocated for a dedicated student support building for some years. There were even efforts to have a student fee referendum to help finance it, but last year I told the student leaders that I could not uphold increasing the financial burden on students and would find another way to finance the project. Now, thanks to outstanding and innovative thinking by Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor Enrique Lavernia, Vice Chancellor & Chief Financial Officer Ron Cortez and their teams, we have identified a financial model that will allow the campus to construct the building without the need for students to approve a special fee.

This new building will provide approximately 53,500 square feet of assignable space to meet the most urgent needs of our student community, housing programs that are currently spread out across campus, including the Counseling Center, the Center for Student Wellness & Health Promotion, our UCI social workers, the Campus Assault Resources & Education office, the Disability Services Center, the Division of Career Pathways, the Veteran Services Center, and programs from the Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation.

Many people have contributed their time and talents to help make this building a reality. I especially want to acknowledge the strong support for this project from ASUCI and AGS leadership over the past three years, as well as the steadfast efforts of the past and present leadership of the Student Affairs division.

The Student Success Building, an important addition to our university, will be across from the Anteater Learning Pavilion. It is expected to open in fall 2022.

Chancellor Howard Gillman