$2.5 million gift to fund
academic services center
Transcript
Staff Writer
University of Oklahoma undergraduates in search of help likely will find it at a new academic services center.
OU President David Boren announced Nov. 4 a $2.5 million gift from Lissa and Cy Wagner of Midland, Texas, that will help pay for the center and scholarships. The 38,000-square-foot Lissa and Cy Wagner Student Academic Services Center will be built where the aging Savoie Lottinville building now stands, next to the McCasland Field House.
Boren said $1.5 million of the Wagners’ gift will help pay for construction; the remaining $1 million will endow Sooner Heritage Scholarships. It will cost $10 to $12 million to complete the building, Boren said, and probably will be completed within two years.
OU already is accepting bids for architects. The Lottinville building will be demolished in the near future and construction will begin shortly afterward.
“We’re all giddy with enthusiasm here,” said University College dean Doug Gaffin. The college is an academic starting point for freshmen and students with undeclared majors.
When considering services to be housed there, Boren said, “I can’t think of a more important building on campus” for keeping students at OU and boosting graduation rates.
The center will house University College staff including advisors, a writing center, computer resources lab, undergraduate assessment, tutoring and learning services, and courses that promote collegiate success. Amenities will include areas for study, student gathering and an all-night coffee bar.
The center’s services and features are designed to give students more tools for succeeding in the classroom and staying in school. And, Boren said, “we looked for the ability to have all these services highly visible in the same place under one roof.”
The president hopes funds from a proposed improvements bond issue for higher education – perhaps money from the education lottery passed on Nov. 2 – will help pay for the building. But if the state Legislature doesn’t pass the bond issue, Boren said the center will be built one way or another.
The Cy and Lissa Wagner Sooner Heritage Scholarship Endowment will be part of the Sooner Heritage Scholarship program. The $500 scholarships help students absorb raises in tuition and fees, with preference going to middle-income students not eligible for need-based federal assistance and to families with two or more college students.
Cy Wagner graduated from OU in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in geology. He and partner Jack Brown head Wagner and Brown Ltd., a large independent oil and gas exploration and production firm. Lissa Wagner is a University of Texas graduate who, Boren said, “has been an incredibly good sport.”