Between the Office of Financial Aid, Housing and Dining Services and all the other offices that Colorado State University houses, navigating college can sometimes feel like a maze. Soft launching in May to prepare for the fall semester and located in the Lory Student Center, The Hub for Student Services is designed to provide students easier access to important resources.

Although The Hub office is new to CSU, Jessica Rodriguez, the director of the office, has helped improve the well-being of students on multiple other campuses. With a master’s degree in college student personnel services and 11 years of experience forming offices like this, Rodriguez said she is excited to address student problems head-on.

“An office like this is really transformational on a campus,” Rodriguez said. “The goal is to ensure that Rams are getting the help that they need in an efficient way and getting the level of expertise that they need to get questions answered so they’re not wasting their valuable time waiting for those answers.”

The Hub has been long in the making. Rodriguez and her team have put great thought into every detail of the office; from which staff members to hire to where it should be located, The Hub is designed to serve all students.

“I was a first-generation, low-income student, and when I attended CSU, I didn’t know who to talk with and I didn’t know what questions to even ask. … I had a hard time recognizing myself in any of those offices. It felt like they weren’t spaces for me.” –Levi Glavin, The Hub assistant director for operations

“We’re in the LSC, and we’re so accessible to students, you know?” Rodriguez said. “They pass by all of the time, and just, it’s convenient for students.”

The team has put a lot of effort into making the office feel like a welcoming and open space for everyone. Levi Glavin, assistant director for operations, shares Rodriguez’s goal of making the space feel as welcoming as possible to all students.

“I was a first-generation, low-income student, and when I attended CSU, I didn’t know who to talk with and I didn’t know what questions to even ask,” Glavin said. “I had a hard time recognizing myself in any of those offices. It felt like they weren’t spaces for me.”

The Hub office is taking charge of a variety of duties that are usually performed by many different offices across campus. Although all of the offices associated with The Hub will continue to operate normally, The Hub will take over most student-facing operations. In order to achieve this, the employees at The Hub are asked to familiarize themselves with a wide variety of different offices and problems. One of the student services counselors, Lizbeth Parra, has previous experience working in financial aid offices.

“I’m excited for students to have a place where they feel comfortable to ask their questions, regardless of what it is because we’re going to service so many different departments,” Parra said.

The Hub has already begun to take over some of the functions of the financial aid office and will roll out more services as technical aspects are sorted out. In the coming weeks, The Hub will prepare to serve students on a much larger scale. Coming next fall, The Hub hopes to serve students and help all Rams feel welcome.

“We’re hopeful that this is this is the right model that’s going to help mitigate a lot of stress and get students what they need,” Rodriguez said.

Reach Ella Dorpinghaus at news@collegian.com or on social media @CSUCollegian.