Kennesaw State University broke ground today on a new Academic Learning Center, a student-focused, 143,000-square-foot building that will feature 20 classrooms, six seminar rooms, a multi-purpose lecture hall, and computer and other specialized labs. Located at the center of the Kennesaw Campus, the ALC is expected to be completed by October 2021.

“With the growth that KSU has undergone in the past few years, spaces designed specifically for students have become more important than ever,” said KSU President Pamela Whitten as she welcomed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and other student, community and university leaders to the ceremonial groundbreaking. “The Academic Learning Center will enhance and modernize academic experiences for our students, while also hosting a broad array of student-support services in the heart of our Kennesaw Campus.”

The five-story, brick structure was approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, funded by the General Assembly, and included in the governor’s budget proposal last year. It will greatly increase the University’s instructional space, as well as provide additional student study and collaboration space.

“This new Learning Center on the campus of the state’s third-largest university will help students prepare to function for life outside its walls when they graduate,” said Gov. Kemp. “We’re very proud of our young folks we have coming into the workforce from Kennesaw State; they are some of our best students in the state.”

The new Academic Learning Center also will house the University’s Honors College, which recently received a $10 million gift from Rosemary and John Brown to support the College and its students in perpetuity. One of those students, Hope Didier, a fourth-year student with a double major in molecular and cellular biology and dance, also spoke at the event.

“Part of what makes Kennesaw State so great is the support students receive from the faculty, staff and leadership at the university, and it just keeps getting better,” said Didier. “The Academic Learning Center will be a place where countless students like me will come to learn, study, receive advising, participate in Honors and advance their research.”

Whitten said, “I am eager to see how much more we can accomplish as a University when the Academic Learning Center begins operating next year. KSU’s focus on providing students a first-rate educational experience is unwavering, and this new learning center will allow us to maintain that focus for years to come.”

The architectural firm HOK created the design for the building, which will be constructed by Brasfield & Gorrie.