Boston Community College Debuts Student Success Center

Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of a new Student Success Center on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The 56,000-square-foot building is the college’s first new facility in more than ten years, and it plays home to the College Library & Learning commons, academic advising, coaching, and wraparound services to support students.

The university partnered with NBBJ as the project architect and the State’s Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) and Bond Building and Construction for planning, engineering, and construction. The news release reports that all of the college’s buildings but one are about 50 years old and were designed to accommodate about 5,000 students. The campus has since tripled its student population and has seen an accumulation of deferred maintenance issues.

“Today, we are celebrating a new space that will benefit BHCC’s student community now and for years to come, improving their experience and maximizing the resources available to them,” said Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler. ”I want to share a strong congratulations to the BHCC leadership team and the entire student community for nurturing this project forward.”

The building was designed to be Net-Zero-Energy-ready, based on Passive House principles and including sustainability features like a geothermal well field on-campus, a future photovoltaic array, and a “highly insulated, high-performing envelope,” according to the news release.

“It is our genuine pleasure to deliver the space that your students deserve,” said DCAMM Commissioner Baacke. “Your students, faculty, and staff have been creating transformative experiences for 50 years, and they’ve been doing that despite the facilities. Now, they'll be doing it with the facilities that help make their jobs easier and not harder.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Cal Poly Humboldt Starts Construction on Healthcare Education Hub

    California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, Calif., recently announced that work has begun on a renovation project that will turn the Stewart Building into a new Healthcare Education Hub, according to a news release. The university is partnering with Sundt Construction Inc. for construction services.

  • Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

    Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.

  • Classical building columns display digital data streams

    The Campus Nervous System: Why Facilities Risk Is Now a Leadership Issue in Higher Education

    Facility performance now intersects with safety, compliance, on-campus experience, institutional reputation, and financial resilience. That places it firmly on the leadership agenda.

  • University of Oklahoma Announces New Campus Master Plan

    The University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., recently announced that it will soon launch a new, comprehensive Campus Master Plan to guide the campus’ physical development during the next decade, according to a news release.