Skip to main content

Wellness & Success Centers Wins Another Honor

Building Wellness: WSC Wins 2024 Outstanding Facilities Award  

by Hayden Bergman

 

The buildings of a university campus are perhaps that school’s most immediate, most public form of communication, constantly speaking to and influencing the psyches of students, faculty, staff, and citizens.  

Architecture and design, then, take on the duties of language when it comes to space and place—they must be accessible, NIRSA Awards logo understandable, functional, with a touch of style that never oversteps into the overwrought. Achieve this, and the entire community benefits.  

Any Gator or Houstonian who has seen or set foot in the Wellness & Success Center (WSC) of course knows that the building achieves all these things. However, validation from a recognized authority like the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) is certainly an achievement, and that’s just what happened this year, as the WSC was honored with an Outstanding Facilities Award, one of only six universities to receive the distinction. 

“This recognition is a testament to UHD’s commitment to our community’s wellbeing,” said, Dr. Lisa Joyner, Vice President for Student Success and Student Life. “The [WSC] not only meets the unique design challenges posed by the bayous and our urban setting, but it provides the kinds of higher education experiences and amenities that students of today and tomorrow want.” 

Selection criteria for the Outstanding Facilities Award included such items as sustainability, innovative construction methods, aesthetic features, recreational program benefits, and the building’s correlation to the campus mission.  

And yes, one could wax poetic and say that the WSC is a marvel, a paragon at the intersection of public money, life, space, and policy.  

Or you can find out for yourself.  

Just head over to 1000 Naylor Street, climb up the steps, and walk inside.  

 

 

About the University of Houston-Downtown

The University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) is the second-largest university in Houston and has served the educational needs of the nation’s fourth-largest city since 1974. As one of four distinct public universities in the University of Houston System, UHD is a comprehensive, four-year university led by President Loren J. Blanchard. Annually, UHD educates approximately 14,000 students, boasts more than 66,000 alumni, and offers 45 bachelor’s degrees, 12 master’s degrees, and 19 online programs within four colleges: Marilyn Davies College of Business, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Public Service, and College of Sciences and Technology. UHD has one of the lowest tuition rates in Texas.

U.S. News and World Report ranked UHD among the nation’s Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for Applied Administration and Best Online Master’s Programs in Criminal Justice, as well as a Top Performer in Social Mobility. The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse ranked UHD one of the best colleges in the U.S. for its 2024 rankings, with notable distinctions: No. 1 for diversity (tied) and No. 3 for student experience. The University is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, a Minority-Serving Institution, and a Military Friendly School. For more information on the University of Houston-Downtown, visit uhd.edu.