Classes and offices based in McAlister hall will move to Short Hall, of Short and Denney Hall, and Schichtl Hall before the spring 2023 semester.

McAlister houses offices and classes for the department of family and consumer sciences, the department of art and design and the Schedler Honors College. 

McAlister is currently undergoing repairs on its roof.

“It leaked like a screen door would,” President Houston Davis said in an October campus talk meeting.

Kevin Carter, associate vice president for facilities at the physical plant, said that many projects are underway in the building. 

“Starting in the spring, there will be several different renovation projects taking place in McAlister,” King said. “Due to the intrusive nature of the work taking place and for the safety of the occupants, we will need to relocate all operations for the spring semester.”

The current work on the roof should be completed by December 31 if the weather is not too harsh, King said. Currently, the building is operating as normal, but King said “the entire building will be vacated by the start of the spring semester.”

Nina Roofe, chair of the department of family and consumer sciences, said that her department has not been disrupted despite the construction.

“We are still operating in McAlister Hall for the fall 2022 semester. The repairs are coming along nicely. McAlister Hall is currently receiving a roof replacement and upgrades to the HVAC system,” Roofe said.

Construction will continue into the spring, due to a grant awarded to UCA from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council. The grant provides funds to renovate and restore the building, as well as make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“McAlister Hall will receive ADA accessibility and other upgrades on the first floor in the spring 2023 term,” Roofe said. “Due to the nature of that and the ongoing HVAC work, faculty offices will move to Short Hall, and classes for spring 2023 will be taught mostly in Schichtl, with a few classes in the Short Residential Hall classroom, the Jefferson Farris Hall classroom and UCA Downtown.”

The ANCRC grant totaled $549,537 and is to be used to update and renovate the building.

Muse Residential College, a program for incoming students to live and learn with other students in the arts, was previously housed in Short and Denney Hall.

The building was not reopened for fall 2022 and Muse was moved to Arkansas Hall.

Short and Denney, however, have not been entirely empty. The building has had unique uses for the fall semester, including a Halloween haunted house put on by the Resident Housing Association. 

Not all programs will need to move into Short or Schichtl as the university plans to open the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts in time for spring classes.

The department of art and design began moving into the building in October 2022.

Bryan Massey, chair of the department, said of the building, “I had some staff think about retirement, but they said it made them change their mind,” Massey said. “Classes, as far as I know, are going to be starting in January. It’s just a matter of us unpacking everything and getting it ready for classes to begin.”

Davis said the repairs on McAlister, in conjunction with the grant, are another reason he has focused so heavily on his Resource Optimization Initiative, which examines the university’s finances amid drops in enrollment and limited government funding.

“We’re getting [the roof] taken care of and a double blessing of getting a grant to be able to do some additional work to McAlister, that’s great,” Davis said.

“It was also good to be able to leverage our scarce dollar against those other many dollars,” Davis said. “But all of those things are perfect examples just here in the last six months of our existence about why we must maintain those reserves.”

The roof repairs have not disrupted the building’s day-to-day operations.

Patricia Smith, dean of the honors college, said that changes have been minimal.

“We are currently operating inside McAlister. With roof repairs, we’ve relocated classes from 402 into 302, but are otherwise operating normally at this time,” Smith said.

Roofe said that her department has adjusted well.

“Our operations have not been affected by the repairs. Everyone has worked around class schedules, so there has been no impact on students. We are excited about the upgrades and renovations and look forward to moving back into McAlister Hall in May of next year.”