In University President Michael Adams’ decade at the University, he has “put his personal mark” on campus construction, according to Danny Sniff, the associate vice president for facilities planning.

Before Adams assumed his post in 1997, University officials adopted the physical master plan in 1996, which was designed to “create the optimal student environment,” Sniff said.

When Adams took over, he “doggedly adhered to the master plan,” and emphasized the importance of high-quality buildings, he said.

Although plans for the Student Learning Center were underway when Adams arrived at the University, “he put his personal mark on it,” by making a key decision about the size of the center, Sniff said.

Adams allowed the architects to eliminate 25,000 square feet from the SLC’s plans in order to create a higher quality building.

Sniff said Adams’ decision was important because it allowed for “a tremendous amount of quality,” and no one had cut the square footage of construction projects before. In place of the additional space, the architects were able to afford better materials and put all classroom seats in the line of sight of the professors.

Tom Jackson, the associate vice president for public affairs, commented on the impact the SLC has had on the campus.

“Before the SLC, the largest building for classes was the Journalism building,” Jackson said. “It’s provided a central location and become almost a quasi-student center.”

Jillian Farr, a sophomore from Marietta, echoed these statements.

“With the classrooms and study rooms, the SLC has a special factor that I don’t see in the other buildings on campus,” she said.

Working with Adams on the SLC was important for the University architects, because it “showed everybody Michael Adams’ dedication to quality,” Sniff said. “Because we obviously want to build quality buildings, the president’s support of quality makes our job easier.”

Sniff said Adams plays a significant role in campus construction choices.

“Nothing gets done without the president’s personal input,” Sniff said. “The old president, Chuck Knapp, hardly ever got involved, but Dr. Adams sees buildings as being integral for the academic mission.”

Sniff said one of the key components of the master plan was the idea of green space.

“We used to have pocket parking lots, and now we have pocket gardens,” Sniff said.

For example, Sniff said, Herty Field was a parking lot, and the master plan turned it into a green space.

Jackson said the green space has been a priority, because “we want to have an academic community with people living and studying on campus.”

One of Adams’ key construction projects was the Coverdell Center, a multidiscipline research laboratory building.

Sniff said a project such as the Coverdell Center would typically take 10 years, but because of Adams’ involvement in fundraising and planning it only took three.

The plan to move the Lumpkin Street fraternities to River Road has been one of the more controversial building plans.

“The institution made a difficult decision, because Greek life is very important to our campus,” Sniff said.

He said administrators looked at the academic needs of the University and decided to put the Terry College of Business, the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and the Special Collections Library on that space.

As the architects and Adams look to the future, they plan to build a Special Collections Library, a teaching hospital for the veterinary school and a general purpose Student Learning Center for laboratories and studying.

“We plan to follow the strategic, academic mission of the institution,” Sniff said.