The opening of Elon University’s new admissions center, The Inman Admissions Welcome Center, provided the opportunity for offices to merge in one central location.
For the past few years, the Office of Admissions and Financial Planning — which includes Undergraduate Admissions, Graduate Admissions and Financial Planning — has been scattered across campus. The Office of Financial Planning has been situated in a building on South Campus since January 2013, while many Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions offices were housed in the Powell Building. The Inman Admissions Welcome Center consolidates the offices of undergraduate admissions, graduate admissions and financial planning under one roof.
Greg Zaiser, vice president of admissions and financial planning, said the new building provides the department with space and centralization.
“[Inman Admissions Center] consolidates our services and department, which is really important to our prospective and current students,” Zaiser said.
The building, which includes 38 meeting spaces and offices as well as two presentation theaters, increases the number of people that can be accommodated at one time. The previous room for admissions presentations in Moseley Center seated 120 people, while the new Clohan Theater in Inman seats 165 people.
“We have over 12,000 students, plus their families come to visit a year,” said Zaiser. “[In the past,] families [would] try to schedule visits, and we have been full. We’ve given them self-guided walking tours because we didn’t have the space for an information session.”
Seventeen spaces in the building were named after donors, all of whom are Elon alumni or parents.
William and Patricia Inman, parents of 2000 alumna Jacklyn, made the lead gift toward the construction of the building in 2013.
The Inmans made gifts to Elon before the admissions center project was proposed, supporting for Rhodes Stadium, Koury Business Center, Lindner Hall and Numen Lumen Pavilion.
The trend of alumni and parents supporting the admissions center continued with Jamey and Tracey Walser ’84 Nugent making a gift. The building’s two-story lobby and atrium is now named The Nugent Atrium in honor of their gift.
Vice President for University Advancement Jim Piatt, Jr. said Elon does not wish to share the amount donated out of respect for the donors but is grateful people think highly enough of Elon to invest in the institution.
“This project, from a donor’s standpoint, is special,” Piatt said. “It’s a front door to the university, and many people come in contact with that.”
Melinda Wood, senior associate dean of admissions, served as the admissions liaison for the construction process of the center.
She said the planning team dedicated thoughtful planning and careful discussion to the layout of the building.
“What we found was very few institutions were able to easily accommodate admissions and financial planning in the same building,” Wood said. “We wanted to make sure we could service all students, whether it was prospective students and their families or current students.”
The Moseley parking lot was blocked off and then torn up to make room for the lawn in front of the building. The disappearance of parking spots didn’t go unnoticed by disgruntled student drivers.
“[The construction] made parking difficult,” said sophomore Rachael Morton. “I don’t know much about admissions, but I have a feeling it is a bit excessive.”
Sophomore Danielle Richer agreed.
“I like that they built a new building,” Richer said. “However, the taking away of the Moseley parking lot has made parking challenging and inconvenient.”
The size of the Inman Admissions Welcome Center — 32,000 square feet — caused a stir among students.
“I’m just really curious to see what the building will be used for,” said freshman Emily Freeman. “I feel like it’s too big and too much money was spent on it.”
Zaiser said the increasing number of prospective students was a factor in determining the size of the building.
“We want to be able to accommodate all of the demand and interest in Elon,” Zaiser said. “We all know that first impressions are lasting impressions. They create a sense of place.”
Elon’s approximate 120 tour guides also moved into the new center. The second floor of the building features large office space where approximately 20 tour guides work at a time.
Senior Dan Sheehan, an Elon tour guide, said that while the new building gave Admissions more space, Inman still isn’t big enough.
“For the amount of people coming to campus, we actually need more space than Inman has,” Sheehan said.
Zaiser said that he hopes the admissions center will give prosepective students a good feeling of what Elon embodies.
“If I was touring and saw that building, I think that it would add to the experience,” said freshman Dustin Farris.