By Davis Dupree, ASU Media Relations InternAs her time with @ASUsoftball comes to a close, senior Breanna Macha reads a letter to the sport that has taught her so much. #WCWS pic.twitter.com/8JK27DZkeq
— NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) June 2, 2018
It's only been open for one semester, but ASU's new Watts Center for Academic Excellence and Championship Life is already earning rave reviews.
And those reviews seem to be unanimous, as Sun Devil student-athletes, coaches and staff are singing the praises of a sparkling facility that is about academics … and so much more.
"We are really excited about this place. It is just beautiful," said Andrea Lore, Associate AD for Student-Athlete Development. "It was a very generous donation from the Watts family that allowed this to happen for us."
The Watts Center is the newly redesigned space to house all of the Arizona State student-athletes' academic needs. Located on the third floor of the Carson Student-Athlete Center, at the south end zone of Sun Devil Stadium, it provides a central location for student-athletes from all sports to utilize on a daily basis.
While the Watts Center was designed with academics in mind, the design of this space also caters to the future goals of athletes, including career and personal development goals.
"The Watts Center is designed and set up to meet the individual needs of each of our students and challenge them in all the ways to exceed at a high level academically, personally and professionally." said Lore. "It is about developing young men and women that are going to go out into the world and become transformative leaders."
When the new football student-athlete facility (SAF) opened on the north end of the stadium, the Carson Center football offices became available and created space for the new facility. The Watts Center doubled the square footage, and created a more user-friendly environment than the old space, just one floor below.
The old center, featuring just three rooms and a large study space, was small, noisy and crowded. Now there are seven rooms, which include a computer lab, two mixed study rooms with more computers, a quiet study space, a tutoring suite and the Championship Life Suite.
"The best quality I think it has given our student-athletes is the amount of space it has provided," said Courtney Skipper, the manager/academic coach for the football team. "In the sense that now a student-athlete doesn't have to be in a room where five other students are being tutored, they have some privacy,"
To go by the numbers, the square footage doubled, going from 7,770 to 15,515. The number of computers almost doubled from 58 to 99. The old space had zero large screen displays for group projects, now there are four, and available printers went from three to five, one of which has air-print capability.
Most of the computers are desktops, but there are a few large, adjustable touchscreen displays that track inputs to allow the user to go back and review the steps taken to solve a problem or fill in a spreadsheet. Rather than simply going through the motions, this new and innovative technology allows the student-athletes to go back and learn from what they did.
Ryan Jenkins, a senior wide receiver on the football team and communications major, has taken advantage of the computer labs and said they are his favorite addition to the new facility.
"My favorite area is the computer labs, they're really nice, the MacBook's especially," said Jenkins.
Another popular change is the widespread use of natural light. With large windows and interior glass walls, it allows natural light to be experienced everywhere, not just near a window.
"We chose to incorporate a lot of natural light, which studies say promotes good study habits and behavior," said Jean Boyd, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development.
The Watts Center is also very modern when it comes to furniture. When accommodating over 600 student-athletes, there are many different study habits and preferred environments, and the Watts Center helps satisfy all of those.
The options feature booths, high tables, regular tables, individual cubicles and comfortable lounge chairs. With some open common areas, along with private rooms, even the preferred volume of the study environment can be controlled when looking for a spot to work.
"We tried to be as forward thinking as possible when we designed this," said Lore. "Not just thinking of the needs of the current student-athletes and student-athlete development staff, but for those of future students and leaders of this office."
While the Watts Center's impact is primarily off the field and impacting the lives and academics of the student-athletes, there has been an on-field impact as well.
"It has been a 100-percent factor in recruiting," said Skipper. "Walking potential prospects [and parents] up and around these halls on the third floor, I can't even gauge how much impact that has had."
Mason Smith, a recent transfer addition to the wrestling team, is part of the first class of student-athletes that the facility has impacted in recruiting.
"Going into my fourth year, with two years of wrestling left, I think I realized that there is more to it [than just wrestling], you have to do well academically too," said Smith.
While both Jenkins and Smith both typically head to the Watts Center on their own, they both know they will see a lot of friends and teammates whenever they go, from their sport or others. With over 600 student-athletes on campus, a central location can help one of the largest universities in America feel a bit smaller.
"As our facilities for sports have started to spread out over the past 10 years or so, it is becoming more and more challenging to have central spaces where student-athletes can operate together," said Boyd. "That definitely helps to develop that sense of family that we talk about being so important."