State’s $4 million aids ASU project

Construction of a humanities and social sciences building at Arkansas State University-Jonesboro will have the help of $4 million from the state’s general improvement fund, Gov. Mike Beebe announced Saturday.

Beebe, a graduate of ASU with a degree in political science, presented a ceremonial check to ASU System President Charles L. Welch at the campus Saturday, according to a university news release.

The $36 million project had already received $17 million from the state’s general improvement fund and is also financed through a $27.7 million bond sale that the system’s board of trustees approved in September.

The bond proceeds will also contribute to the construction of a student activities center, the news release said.

The humanities and social sciences building will be located in the center of the campus. Construction is expected to be completed for the 2015 fall semester.

The 120,000-square-foot building will house the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and include classrooms, computer labs, faculty offices, departmental suites and conference rooms, the news release said. Departments in the college include criminology, sociology and geography, English and philosophy, history, political science, and world languages and cultures.

The college’s dean, Lauri Umansky, said in the news release that the college is “at the heart of a broad-based liberal arts education.”