University plans renovation to boost focus on career services

TAMPA — The University of Tampa’s Riverside Center, which was built in 1962 on the Hillsborough River and has been the home of various administrative and academic functions over the years, will undergo a major renovation this summer and fall.

According to a press release, the renovation will create more space for UT’s career services department, classrooms and conference rooms, and for a transformed campus post office.

The current building is a mix of single-story, story-and-a-half and two-story spaces, but it will become two-story throughout while maintaining the same footprint. The renovation will add nearly 20,000 square feet for a total of 54,000 square feet.

The career services department will receive an additional 5,000 square feet and feature spaces for placement services, including interviewing, corporate recruiter meeting and receptions, as well as employer and student programs to aid career exploration and job search.

“The new Riverside Building will benefit the UT community in many ways,” UT President Ronald Vaughn states in the release. “I believe students will especially benefit from the expansion of career services and the addition of classrooms and study spaces, and I think they will particularly enjoy a modernized, functional post office.”

The project is expected to begin in early May and be fully completed for the spring 2019 semester, the release states.