By Jaci Schneider, Staff Writer

In the coming years, prospective students will not have to search for the Welcome Center when they visit ACU. Instead, they will enter campus through a new entrance being planned as part of ACU’s Centennial Campaign.

A new building project is in the works for the field area between University Park apartments and Teague Boulevard. The building will include space for the Welcome Center, the Alumni Relations Office and the departments of Political Science, Sociology and Psychology, said Dr. Colleen Durrington, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The opening of the building is tentatively projected for the fall of 2007, said Dr. Robert McKelvain, chair of the Department of Psychology.

The academic section of the building will include classrooms and offices for the three departments.

The Department of Sociology and Social Work is located in two buildings on campus, said Chair Bill Culp. Culp said the department is crowded in its current space, and that he is looking forward to the day when it can operate under one roof.

The Psychology Department has also outgrown its location on the second floor of Chambers Hall, McKelvain said. He added that he is excited the new space will be designed for the department.

“It will be designed so we can teach better,” he said. “We will have a lot more space for research, teaching of counseling skills and assessment.”

The construction of the new building depends on fund-raising, so current budget issues will not affect it. Fund-raising is just getting started, Durrington said; the Centennial Campaign began in 2001 but was officially announced Feb. 21.

Durrington said she is optimistic about the new building.

“I’m excited about the possibilities because the students have not had the space and equipment we’d like them to have,” she said.

Even though architectural plans have been drawn for the building, McKelvain said he remains slightly skeptical.

“When they pour the concrete, I’ll start making plans,” he said.