Quinnipiac University’s Department of Public Safety is slated to fully move its Mount Carmel Campus offices from the Irmagarde Tator Residence Hall to the former Student Health Services building by the beginning of the spring 2024 semester.

University officials began talking about how to utilize the free space shortly after SHS relocated its offices to the newly constructed Recreation and Wellness Center in August 2022.

But Tony Reyes, chief of Public Safety, noted that the department expressed interest in relocating even before SHS’ move.

“We just wanted to get a dedicated space for Public Safety,” Reyes said. “As you know, we’re currently in the dorms — or were — and we wanted to utilize the space and the dorms more appropriately for student spaces.”

Reyes said university officials are still deciding how to repurpose the vacated space in the first-year residence hall. However, he said it is more than likely Quinnipiac will again create “student-centric spaces” — either additional residence rooms or student lounges — on Irma’s first floor.

Reyes said the former Student Health Services building was not ready for the relocation until early October, which prolonged the official move.

“The reason we haven’t officially moved yet, is mainly because of our dispatch center,” Reyes said. “It’s obviously the hub, the heart and soul of our Public Safety services. We didn’t want to move in the middle of the semester and cause any interruptions of service to our community.”

Although Public Safety will run the dispatch center out of Irma for the remainder of the fall 2023 semester, some of the administrative offices have already moved to the new location, according to Reyes.

The new Public Safety office building — excluding the administrative offices already in place — will have a new reception area for students, with digital screens displaying relevant information, a waiting area and an outside area with benches and charging stations, Reyes said.

“We are really just trying to make it a very user-friendly sort of space for our students,” Reyes said. “In particular because it’s the one space on campus that’s open 24 hours, it’s the round-the-clock resource the students can depend on.”

The new dispatch center is already built, Reyes said, but it will not be operational until the official unveiling ceremony, which is supposed to happen shortly after Jan. 8, 2024 — the day of the full relocation.

Reyes also said the university will not comment on the relocation until its official unveiling to avoid any confusion.