VPUL office relocates to Locust Walk

The office of the Vice Provost for University Life will temporarily relocate to the vacant building at 3609-11 Locust Walk, effective this week. Acting VPUL Valarie Swain Cade-McCoullum said the office had to move because the College of Arts and Sciences office -- currently located on the mezzanine floor of the Mellon Bank building at 36th and Walnut streets -- is relocating to Houston Hall, the building in which the VPUL is presently housed. Once the College office is transported to Houston Hall, the VPUL will settle permanently in the College's old home in Mellon Bank, McCoullum said. "What we're doing is playing musical chairs," McCoullum said, adding that she expects to be completely moved out of her office by tomorrow. According to Tom Hauber, associate director of Student Life, activities and facilities, the exact date on which the College office will pack its things and head for Houston Hall has yet to be determined. "The original goal was September 1," he said. "But I haven't seen any firm plans [for the College office's move] -- only the initial renderings." McCoullum said she hopes the VPUL will be able to move into its permanent home atop Mellon Bank in the fall semester, but she was unable to give a specific date. Although the VPUL staff will be "living out of boxes" for the next week, McCoullum said all of the office's services will be available to students. To insure that students are able to find the VPUL in its transitory location, a placard announcing the office's new residence was placed outside of 3609-11 Locust Walk early this week. "We want to welcome everybody to our new home," McCoullum said. Interim President Claire Fagin, Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson, and College Dean Matthew Santirocco made a joint decision in September to relocate the College office to Houston Hall because the space in the Mellon Bank building was not large enough to accommodate the expanding office. McCoullum said a team of students worked with the administrators to insure that "no student meeting rooms or student organization spaces would be impacted in [the relocation] process." "The first priority in all of this was the students," she added. Although McCoullum said that many VPUL employees have had to put in long hours this week because of the office's move, she said that "if we as administrators have to move, that's better than having students misplaced." "I feel good that the student organization space was not lost," McCoullum said. She added that the VPUL "chose 3609-11 so that we could be closer to the other Student Life offices in Houston Hall."