Plans for a new Psychology building at Valdosta State will be presented to the Board of Regents in either January or February of next year. If plans are approved for the new building, which will consist of clinics, classrooms and offices, the two-story part of Converse Hall will be renovated, according to and President Dr. Patrick J. Schloss.
 “No student will be displaced,” said Schloss. “[Current students] will be allowed to finish their contracts.”
  If the project goes through, VSU will save money on shuttles, and students won’t have to travel as far to the psychology facility, which is currently a few blocks from main campus, making students’ lives a little easier, according to Schloss.
 Faculty involved are “confident with the project, but ultimately [we] need Board of Regents approval,” he said.
 VSU hopes to start building in Spring 2011, according to Schloss.
 
The new psychology building is one of several buildings that have been proposed, including a new lecture hall and a Health Sciences and Business Administration building. The purpose of these buildings is to “provide a better experience for students and attract more and better students,” said Schloss.
 The new lecture hall will be proposed at the next Board of Regents meeting, set to take place later this month. If the plans are approved, the lecture hall will be built in front of the Education Center and will be two levels, each story consisting of a 350-seat auditorium. The lecture hall will be designed such that students will be seated closer to the teacher, and the seating arrangements and acoustics will be better than Powell Hall Auditorium.

Construction, if plans are approved, is hoped to be started next fall, according to Thressea Boyd, Assistant to the President for Communications.

The building proposed to house the Health Sciences and Business Administration facilities is a state project that, if approved, would not start for many years and would be on North Campus, according to Boyd.

State projects are ranked due to importance and purpose. The designs must be approved before construction can occur, according to Boyd. The design work for this particular project had been presented and accepted before, but was cut at the very last minute, said Schloss.

The school is trying to work more closely with local legislators so the project won’t be taken out again, he said.

Funding for these projects will come from the general operating budget, and students’ payments will not be affected, said Interim Vice President for Finance and Administration Traycee Martin.