Campus opens at full capacity

In celebration of the new opening of Round Rock campus ACC students, faculty and staff, as well as members of the construction and planning team who helped design the campus attended a dedication ceremony on Aug. 27.

ACC President Stephen Kinslow, ACC board of trustees members, as well as Round Rock Mayor Alan McGraw spoke at the event, and the ACC jazz band performed. A time capsule was also buried on campus grounds, with the intention of having it opened on the fiftieth anniversary of the campus.

"I think the huge enrollment we've had is a testament to how badly these programs were needed in Round Rock. It's a wonderful investment for Round rock and Williamson County folks to have this level of resources available to them," said Kinslow.

The first phase of the Round Rock campus, which had a 119 million dollar budget, includes a total of five buildings on roughly 300,000 square feet.

Once the second phase of construction on the campus is completed, the campus will be at its maximum capacity, serving up to 11,500 students. This figure would significantly surpass enrollment at Northridge, which currently has the highest ACC enrollment with 10, 219 students enrolled according to fall 2010 12th day class data provided by ACC.

However, the enrollment for the new campus is something that could be a problem in the future according to the Vice Chair of the board of trustees, Allen Kaplan.

"We're going to be up to capacity by the end of the fall semester, and we'll be squeezing people into classrooms and labs because the response of student registration has been so unbelievable," said Kaplan

Project manager for the Round Rock Campus, Paul Mason, who helped design and construct the new campus, isn't worried about a student overload.

"The square footage per student is double the next closest campus. If we packed this campus with students like Northridge, this campus could hold 12,000 students just like it is now", said Mason.

According to Mason, keeping capacity set lower than the maximum is intentional.

"Here we've been trying to provide breathing room. Our hope is keep the ratio lower so its starts to set a precedent for the district. So in the future we don't build campuses that feel overcrowded," said Mason

The campus has an emphasis on health and sciences instruction. Adela Mercado Gonzalas, a nursing student, attended the dedication ceremony and is excited about the new equipment on campus.

"Everything is new," said Gonzalas about the clinical labs, "the mannequins in the labs, the Iv's, and the blood pressure gauges, they're all new. Nothing is broken."

Although the campus has many new features, there are also concerns about what is not at the Round Rock Campus yet. 

There is no Simon's Cafe or a public transit system. Mason explains that the reason for the current absence of food services is due mostly to the bad economy.

The original plan was to have a campus with two on-campus options for dinning. Unlike of the other campuses which all have a Simon's Cafe.

"We built out a 2,400 square foot shell that we were going to put that into, but then the recession happened and no food corporations wanted to invest in ACC. We're keeping it a shell until we can find the right fit. We want to do it right," said Mason.

As for transportation, ACC is going to try to partner with Texas State and Texas A&M campuses located in Round Rock to see if they can work with Williamson County and get a local transit system running between the three campuses.

Capitol Metro does not serve the new campus.

"For the foreseeable future, this is going to be a strictly car based campus with no public transportation," said Mason.

However Melanie Jones, a pre-med major, is taking her government classes in Round Rock and has no problems driving to school, especially since the new campus is closer to her than any other campus. Jones is also optimistic about the availability of parking spaces the new campus has to offer, since parking has been a problem at other campuses

"At least you don't have to fight for a parking spot, depending on what day it is. At some campuses you know that if you're have a ten o' clock class your going to be fighting for a parking spot. Here there is parking available," said Jones "If I could take all of my classes here I would." 

Editor's note: This story has been edited from the print edition.

Round Rock Campus features

• There are 5034 students enrolled at Round Rock

• There is a total of 1250 parking spaces on campus

• There is no permanent food vendor on campus

• "If we packed this campus with students like Northridge, this campus could hold 12,000 students just like it is now," said Paul Mason 

• This is the first phase of the Round Rock campus, which had a 119 million dollar budget

• The campus includes a total of five buildings built on roughly 300,000 square feet

• There is no public transit system that serves the campus

• Once the second phase of construction on the campus is completed, the campus will be at its maximum capacity, serving up to 11,500 students

• The square footage per student is double the next closest campus