We're working to establish a renewed academic core on the North Campus and an expanded health sciences core on the South Campus to benefit generations of students to come while enhancing our teaching, research and outreach mission.
In alignment with the Campus Master Plan, UMSL is working to establish and enhanced academic core on its North Campus, which includes the transition of key academic programs and facilities from the South Campus to the North Campus in concert with a comprehensive renovation of classroom, laboratory and community spaces to serve students for decades to come.
This effort will build a more cohesive academic experience while connecting campus assets and creating a collaborative environment for learning, research and innovation. Already, the School of Social Work and Department of Music have relocated to the North Campus and the College of Education will move to the central quad in the near future. We've also completed a build out of the Patient Care Center to provide advanced spaces for the College of Optometry. Additionally, we've completed an expansion of the UMSL Nursing Simulation Laboratories designed to address the shortage by increasing the College of Nursing’s capacity to graduate pre-licensure BSN students by 20%.
While creating a more cohesive and collaborative academic environment on the North Campus, UMSL seeks to expand upon its health sciences footprint throughout the South Campus. This efforts brings together the university's strengths in optometry, nursing, mental health, child advocacy services and more.
Download Transform UMSL/Academic Project Status Report as a PDF
This status report is updated monthly by UMSL Facilities.
Richter Family Welcome and Alumni Center
The Richter Family Welcome and Alumni Center – which will encompass a large portion of the J.C. Penney Building – will be a place to welcome prospective students and families to UMSL while simultaneously giving those who’ve already experienced its transformative power a place to return and give back.
Social Sciences and Business Building Modernization and Expansion
UMSL is in the process of deconstructing the Social Science and Business (SSB) Tower as part of the SSB Modernization and Expansion project. We've already completed a new elevator addition to the main SSB building to enhance accessibility. The next phase involves removing the tower to create space for a new expansion, which will house the College of Education and the Honors College.
Revitalizing University Libraries
Located at the heart of the UMSL’s North Campus, the TJ Library is a cultural treasure that attracts hundreds of thousands of patrons annually. The regional, national and global reach of the library is largely due to it serving as home of the St. Louis Mercantile Library. UMSL is working to create a more modern, engaging and flexible library to meet the needs of scholars and library patrons now and well into the future.
A New Home for the UMSL Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center
A catalyst that inspires and develops entrepreneurship and innovation, the UMSL Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center (EIC) has a mission to foster a vibrant ecosystem to educate, innovate and collaborate. Private investments have already yielded successful outcomes. We envision a new home for UMSL's EIC that will serve as a hub for university-led accelerators and as a gathering place for collaboration among startup founders and the university community.
Patient Care Center
We have completed a build out of the second floor of our Patient Care Center to become the main hub of practice for the College of Optometry. The new space allows students to engage in pre-clinical training in the same place as their in-person training at UMSL Eye Care Center. This project includes unique classroom and skill room spaces to support the optometry program.
Dean Sharon Johnson, her colleagues and the many students who make up the School of Social Work at the University of Missouri–St. Louis have spent the semester getting acclimated to their surroundings on the fourth floor of the Social Sciences and Business Building.
The school moved out of its former home in Bellerive Hall in 2020, and the building was demolished last summer as part of the university’s ongoing effort to consolidate some campus buildings and reduce deferred maintenance costs.
