Beginning this semester, the expanded portion of the Student Success Center will be open for student use.

The renovation will be used to further the collaborative learning environment both the Learning Center and the Career Center hope to promote, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies Jim Spain said.

The area housed a McDonald’s until May 2011, when the lease expired and McDonald’s chose not to renew it, Campus Facilities spokesman Karlan Seville said.

After the fast-food chain closed, plans were made to renovate the area. The former McDonald’s kitchen will now be used by Campus Dining Services to provide a catering service. The rest of the area has been turned into an extension of the Student Success Center to provide more services for students.

“The Learning Center and MU Career Center have experienced significant growth in the number of students served,” Spain said. “The additional space will be used to allow us to further expand the one-on-one and group work that both the Learning Center and the Career Center do with students at Mizzou.”

One goal of the Learning Center is to support and help students in the hopes of their re-enrollment next term. The expanded tutoring area will increase the capacity of students the center can reach.

“The expansion of the Student Success Center will provide approximately 30 additional tutoring stations during peak hours,” Learning Center director Phil Deming said. “This will help to alleviate the overcrowding we have experienced in recent years and will not only allow us to see more students but also improve the quality of the learning environment for our students.”

With class enrollment at record highs, it has been important for the center to provide the resources necessary for the influx of students.

“The additional space allows us to support more students than our current space supports,” Spain said. “This will be very important with the increased enrollment our campus is celebrating.”

Though the expansion is planned to open this semester, a specific opening date has not been announced. Technical problems with the heating and cooling system are tentatively delaying the date the expanded area will be available for student use.

The existing Student Success Center will operate regularly with the start of the fall semester.