An extra measure of excitement and anticipation will accompany the beginning of the new school year, beginning Sept. 3, at Wayne State University. The university is enhancing services to students with an impressive new Welcome Center, a new six-story residence hall in the heart of campus and a new University Bookstore adjacent to the Welcome Center.

The buildings are the most recent capital improvement initiatives accomplished under the leadership of WSU President Irvin D. Reid, who came to the university in 1997. Wayne State's Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Building on The Detroit Medical Center campus opened last spring and will be dedicated Oct. 10. A major addition to the WSU Law School was completed in 2000, the same year a new Recreation and Fitness Center opened at the center of campus.

In addition, extensive renovations to the university's McGregor Memorial Conference Center, a much-photographed building designed by famed architect Minoru Yamasaki, are nearing completion.

The four-story Welcome Center gives Wayne State a major signature building on the busy Woodward Corridor. The $18.5 million center will serve as a one-stop information, application, enrollment and service center for students. It will house representatives of the admissions, registrar's, scholarships and financial aid, housing, cashier's and other offices that new students interact with most frequently.

The 70,000 square foot structure features extensive use of exterior glass and has a 108-seat auditorium on the first floor. Its construction was among the priorities set by Reid soon after arrival at Wayne State five years ago. "By centralizing many of the administrative services required by new students, we are making it more convenient to enroll at Wayne State," he says. "And the location of the Welcome Center on Woodward Avenue in the Detroit Cultural Center affords important visibility for the university on one of Detroit's most heavily-traveled streets."

Grand opening ceremonies for the Welcome Center, located at the corner of Woodward and Warren, are set for 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12.

Students will begin moving into the $19.9 million North Residence Hall, located on Anthony Wayne Drive, on Wednesday, August 28. Located near WSU's Undergraduate Library, the Recreation and Fitness Center and the Student Center Building, the hall will provide its 380 residents -- the majority of them freshman -- with convenient access to popular campus facilities.

Charles Brown, WSU vice president for student development and campus life, points out that the new residence hall will contribute to a spirit of community and will enhance the vitality of the campus. "We know that many prospective students prefer traditional-style undergraduate housing," he says.

The building is equipped with a kitchen, dining room and short-order grill, enabling Wayne State to offer a traditional room-and-board arrangement to entering students for the first time in decades. It is part of the university's master plan to enhance the vitality of campus life by having more students in residence.

Rooms in North Residence Hall have private baths and are equipped for high-speed Internet access, cable television and telephone. In addition to the Warrior Dining Room, Warrior Grill, a laundry room and offices, the first floor will have a convenience shop called Wayne's Trail. As part of grand opening activities planned for Sept. 18, the contents of a time capsule will be announced. The capsule will be buried at a later date in a courtyard between North Residence Hall and a companion residential building currently under construction on adjacent land.

The $6 million University Bookstore, located on Warren Ave. across an attractive courtyard from the Welcome Center, will replace a store currently housed in the Undergraduate Library Building. Operated for the university by Barnes and Noble, the two-story structure will serve both the campus community and the general public when it opens in mid-October. Special features include a children's book section, a music section, a coffee shop and a convenience shop offering snacks and sundries.

A 700-space parking structure located at the site serves both the Welcome Center and the bookstore.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 14 schools and colleges to more than 31,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.

(Note: Artists renderings of the newest buildings on the Wayne State University campus are available via e-mail. Contact Tom Sakely at (313) 577-2150 or t.sakely@wayne.edu.