Construction improvements on Winter Haven Campus signal increased support for students

Posted on by Polk Newsroom

Pardon our dust

Beginning Friday, Sept. 7, construction will start on renovations to create office space for new Student Success Advisors on the Winter Haven Campus. The Advising area of the Winter Haven Administration Building (WAD) will undergo minor renovations to create offices for three new Student Success Advisors just in time for the spring semester.

The College is in the process of filling additional advising positions made possible by $500,000 in recurring operational support funds Polk State secured during the 2018 Legislative Session. The College expects all advisors to be hired by the end of October.

In the meantime, construction on spaces to house these new employees is poised to start. While Advising office space exists at the Lakeland Campus and Polk State Clear Springs Advanced Technology Center, the Winter Haven Campus requires minor renovations.

“The information area in Advising will be converted into two private offices during the renovations,” Planning & Construction Project Engineer Robbie Manikis said. “During renovations, all spaces in the Advising area, including the Student Success Center, will remain open.”

Construction is expected to be completed in early October.

During construction, all students who are visiting the Advising area are asked to sign in at the circular information desk in the lobby of the Administration building. After they sign in, students can wait in the Advising area until their name is called.

During the 2018 Legislative Session, Polk State College received $500,000 in recurring operational support funds to expand initiatives to improve student retention and completion rates. These funds are being invested in important technology used to track student performance and in seven new advising positions to be housed at the Winter Haven Campus, Lakeland Campus, and Polk State Clear Springs Advanced Technology Center. The addition of more advisors to the College will allow Polk State to cut its student-to-advisor ratio and provide improved service for students.

“Funding for additional operational support will allow our students to have more meaningful, rather than transactional, conversations with advisors about their educational plans and career goals,” Polk State College President Angela Garcia Falconetti said. “This funding will have a direct positive impact on our students and I could not be more thrilled.”