Fresno City College’s president, Dr. Cynthia Azari, is reconsidering the decision to move both the welcome center and DSP&S into a shared space.

As of this spring, President Azari had decided to allocate space in the front portion of the Administration Building (AB) to both units. DSP&S and the Welcome Center were set to move in upon the offices in the AB relocating to the Old Administration Building. Because of recent concerns raised about this decision, the president has held meetings to further investigate the expressed discontentment.

The president held meetings two weeks ago to hear from DSP&S and College Relations. According to President Azari, DSP&S was in favor of occupying the whole front portion of the AB. Within College Relations, there was no consensus. Some were for sharing the space with DSP&S and others thought the Welcome Center should be in the Old Administration Building. “It was a listening meeting for me,” said Azari. In both meetings Azari was primarily giving attention to what the two departments had to say.

“In an educational institution it’s important to have difference of opinions and it’s important to express those as professionals,” stated Azari. “You have to listen to the issues, and get to the real issues, and that is ensuring that our student’s needs are met.”

The president acknowledges the concerns, but questions what revisiting the issues says about FCC‘s governance system. “As you go through that process, if we backup, what is that saying about our process? Is it devaluing it? Is it saying that it’s not important? Is it saying that it’s just a rubber stamp and it doesn’t really mean anything? You gotta think about those things.”

Discussion has sparked about what would happen if the welcome center wasn’t placed in the AB. Tammy Maddox, Accounting Tech 2 for the Office of Instruction, is stationed in the current Administration Building. She is on the left side, upon walking into the AB, at the first desk. Maddox knows firsthand how many people enter the AB, just to ask questions.

“I’m concerned that proper signage doesn’t really work. I’m afraid that they [DSP&S] are going to be bombarded on a daily basis.” The AB is an entry point for FCC and people often enter that building first to seek answers for any questions they may have about the college. Maddox is worried that when push comes to shove, signage falls through the cracks. “At the beginning of a semester, it can be a full time job just answering questions,” said Maddox. Maddox claims that for the Office of Instruction, signage isn’t providing as much direction to students as they’d like. President Azari shares the same dilemma about directional signs, “you can’t just put up a sign that says go to the next building because people won’t read the signs.”

Janice Emerzian, District Director of DSP&S doesn’t see this as a problem. “We deal with that right now, in fact, we deal with it all the time.” said Emerzian. Students who walk into the second floor of the student services building, where DSP&S is located, often wander into DSP&S and ask for directions to specific facilities or about campus information. “If they have questions, why shouldn’t we answer them? I don’t have a problem with that.” said Dr. Emerzian.

Dr. Villa, Vice President of Student Services, sees the benefits of placing the Welcome Center in the Administration Building. Dr. Villa says that the AB is very visual and very easy to find. “The AB is a first point of contact for both incoming and currently enrolled students.” said Dr. Villa.

The Welcome Center will be a function out of College Relations. College Relations currently works with high schools within the community to market FCC and recruit students. The center will serve both incoming and currently enrolled students. Because of the role the Welcome Center plays, location is critical to it’s purpose.

This discussion has posed another issue: Are DSP&S students ok with sharing a building with an attention magnet like the welcome center? Mischelle Liscano is the Vice President of the Abilities Club, a group on campus devoted to raising awareness of disabilities at FCC. Liscano acknowledges the possible traffic issues and questions, ‘what about the students who want more privacy when visiting DSP&S?’ In regards to sharing the space with the Welcome Center, ” at one time, it’s promoting awareness, at another time, it’s taking away from our disabled students.” Both Liscano and Dr. Emerzian believe that DSP&S should have an undivided, respected space.

President Azari, on the other hand, feels that the move could be highly beneficial. For one, there would be a heightened awareness of students with disabilities, and Azari feels that FCC shouldn’t have to hide their students. “This is who we are and these are our students, and I’m not ashamed of any of our students.”

Dr. Villa agrees with President Azari. ” .”

Dr. Villa said that if space became available in the OAB, it could be a possibility to move the welcome center there. However, he added “You always got to look at the logic. Where would you put a center, an office, in which incoming students and parents would most likely gravitate to, that’s easy access?”Liscano of the Abilities Club advices that because location of the Welcome Center is important, why not put the location on signs and in College Relations information packets or fliers used to promote FCC. When setting up tours, College Relations can also inform or remind people of the location.

The main issue for DSP&S is having adequate space. “I think it’s a standoff between whether DSP&S needs that much space or not,” stated Dr. Emerzian. She remembers when DSP&S had 250 students. Now they have about 2,300 students and basically the same amount of space.

DSP&S is worried about the flow of traffic that the Welcome Center will bring in, with campus tours and distribution of information. Within the department, you have students in wheelchairs, students with guide dogs, and some students accompanied by translators. DSP&S staff anticipates difficulty for their students navigating through the building.

The lobby area is a primary concern for traffic flow. Within a given day, up to fifteen students can be sitting in the DSP&S lobby at a time, waiting to see a counselor. Will sharing a lobby area with the Welcome Center create more barriers for students? Also, more space for storing files is critical to the department’s commitment to confidentiality.

“It’s not about me, it’s about what the students deserve, and I think that says it all,” said Dr. Emerzian. According to Dr. Emerzina, comparable colleges to FCC are allocating undivided spaces to their DSP&S units. The Community Colleges include DeAnza, Merced, Riverside, and Santa Barbara. They have all set apart space that is dedicated entirely to DSP&S, and not shared. DSP&S at FCC see this as just ‘the right thing to do’.

President Azari is still deliberating about the location of the Welcome Center and is updating the Strategic Planning Council along the way. “We’re gonna make things work for our students,” affirmed the president. There are a few options that President Azari is considering, but she will inform the Strategic Planning Council and involved parties when she has made the final decision.The President is determined keep this issue about the students, and to make the best decision for the institution.