The area surrounding the former Mail and Document Services room in the Connell Student Center (CSC) is being converted into a more convenient home for ACCESS and Accommodations and the new Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Dean of Student Affairs Doug Pearson said ACCESS and Accommodations, which helps support students with disabilities in all aspects of university life from academics to housing, will occupy the main space.

“It will provide our students with disabilities with better and more accessible space,” he said.

The Cluster reported in 2018 that many students with disabilities struggled to navigate Mercer’s campus. Some said that even the office providing accommodations was inaccessible.

“I know that ACCESS is on the third floor in a building where the elevator works about half the time,” Jessica Smith, a student with an ankle injury, said.

Now, students with disabilities will face fewer obstacles to obtain accommodations.

Pearson said the area in the renovated space closer to Which Wich will host the new Office of Diversity and Inclusion, which he said will raise awareness about “multiculturalism, equity, inclusion and identity” on campus.

The office will also serve as a “resource area for information on all sorts of diversity issues.”

The former post office has been unused since the student mailboxes were moved to the University Center in summer 2018. Construction is expected to completed near the end of the spring semester.