In a recent speech, Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger announced that the University would be building a new welcome center within the next couple of years in order to create a more centralized location for visitors when they visit BU.

The welcome center will be built near the visitor’s booth and new parking lot that will be opening for the fall 2017 semester.

Greg Delviscio, the associate vice president for communications and marketing at BU, said that the purpose of the welcome center is to create a main location where visitors can go when they first come to campus.

“College campuses can be intimidating to visitors,” Delviscio wrote in an email. “This center would serve as a jumping off point to their next destination. It would create a positive first impression and that includes state of the art elements.” Delviscio said that there is no current plan as to who will run it.

The state-of-the-art elements Delviscio mentioned will include kiosks, video displays and photos that will give information about BU and provide a sense of history of the campus.

Delviscio also wrote that a welcome center is important for a college campus because it serves as a location where visitors can obtain necessary information for their visit such as directions to specific buildings and offices as well as information on where to park.

Stenger said in a statement that the welcome center will be an important addition because it will set the tone for the University when visitors first come to campus.

“Every year we have more than a quarter-million campus visitors — 40,000 of whom are potential students — so it’s important that they gain a proper first impression of the campus,” Stenger said. “A new welcome center for the University will act as a much more inviting gateway for our thousands of guests, prospective students and their parents each year.”

The center will be paid for, in part, by money that BU received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a result of the 2011 flooding of the University Downtown Center.

According to Delviscio, the welcome center is still in the planning stage, so it will most likely be built within the next couple of years.

When visitors come to campus for a tour, they currently park behind the Couper Administration Building and head straight to the Admissions Center.

Delviscio wrote that the welcome center will provide a more centralized location that the campus currently lacks, even with the Admissions Center.

“Right now, there is no real central point,” Delviscio wrote. “The visitor’s booth serves as a function but is not necessarily a welcome center.”

Some students feel that the creation of a welcome center is a good idea in theory, but that the money could be spent elsewhere.

“I could see how having a welcome center would be nice and it would create a more open environment on campus, but I also think the money could go toward other things, like funding for studies or underdeveloped programs,” said Fernando Villagra, a sophomore majoring in political science.

Other students are excited for the welcome center and for what it will bring to the University.

Josh Tokman, a sophomore double majoring in psychology and financial economics, said that he thinks the new welcome center will be good for BU because it will create a new location in which visitors can go to for information aside from the Admissions Center.

“Typically, if people have questions or want information about anything regarding the school they would go to the [Admissions Center], so having a welcome center that provides information about the school means that admissions can focus on simply information about the admissions process and applications,” Tokman said. “All in all, I think it will be a good addition which will help the University expand by separating the operations of certain facilities.”