Stationed behind the information desk in Davies, junior Zachary Szewczyk responds to many questions as a supervisor and student worker for Campus Information Services. But he said he also spends a lot of time turning people away from the desk.

“People will come up and ask for us to cash checks,” he said.

For check cashing and other services, Szewczyk must redirect many would-be CIS customers to the Service Center at the opposite end of the building. After serving two years on staff, Szewczyk said the incident happens on a “frequent” basis.

A solution soon will arrive. Effective next semester, Szewczyk will no longer have to worry about meandering customers. In a move that will relocate several offices, the university is merging CIS, the Service Center and the Blugold office into the area currently occupied by the information desk. Instead of one information window, there will be four windows complete with computers and student workers.

Mitch Kilcrease, director of University Centers and Programs, cited several reasons for the move.

“Right now, we basically split the building up on either side,” he said. “By (the Service Center) being at the forefront of the building, it’ll be a lot more available to the students.”

In addition to the relocation, the all-encompassing Service Center will increase hours of operation.

Kilcrease accomplished this by setting identical operating hours for all three services. The new hours will be from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Monday through Friday. The weekend hours will range from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The Service Center move, which will cost an estimated $40,000, will take place during the summer and involve only minor construction. The project leaders aimed to avoid intrusive construction and maintain a cost-efficient budget, Kilcrease said.

While the new center may be stressful in development, several members of the CIS staff expressed optimism at the outcome. “I’m excited about the project,” said Malinda Hebert, the current supervisor of CIS. “I’m real proud of this project because students are gaining from this. If you’re a student or employee you’re gaining skills from a lot more software.”

Szewczyk admitted that the construction will incorporate more stress into his job, but also said he is prepared for the transition. “I’m curious to see how it will turn out,” he said.

Students, staff and faculty can judge the outcome themselves when the new Service Center opens for the fall 2004 semester. While there will be a visual difference in the building’s layout, the construction also served as an alternative to an entirely new center, Kilcrease said. Even though a referendum for a new Davies Center was defeated in spring of 2003, Kilcrease said the university still is cautious when it comes to renovation of the student center.

“We don’t want to spend money three or four times over,” he said. “(We’re) still looking at the future of Davies.”