To boost efficiency and improve the services offered in the Flawn Academic Center, the ID Center and Service Desk in the FAC will merge into one desk.

The ID Center and the Service Desk are located on the first floor of the FAC. The ID Center provides and upgrades IDs and UT EIDs, while the Service Desk answers questions about navigating IT services, such as business processes, services and applications, according to the UT Service Desk website. Currently, the ID Center and Service Desk are under construction and are temporarily located in the FAC basement.

Michael Carmagnola, director of project management and construction services, said the desks are located close to each other, but students or faculty members who want to use either service must wait in separate lines.

“The new situation envisions putting these two functions together within the same walk-up space,” Carmagnola said. “It will be more contemporary, more conductive (and) more friendly.” 

Veronica Trevino, media manager of Financial and Administrative Services, said the project’s construction will be completed later this semester. Carmagnola said an official completion date has not been announced because the project is currently in the late design stages. 

Because demand for the Service Desk and ID Center peak at the beginning of the semester, Carmagnola said construction will take place during a slower student activity period and should be ready be the end of this semester.

The new desk will have a different visual appearance than the old desks, Carmagnola said. Although they have not determined the exact color scheme, Carmagnola said dark colors, such as brown and dark blue, will be brightened to beige and light blue. 

“I don’t know how old the current desk is, but it’s probably more than 10 to 15 years old in terms of when it was redone,” Carmagnola said. “For that time period, it probably worked great. But the way we provide customer service today is different. So it’s probably due for an upgrade.” 

Civil engineering senior Sylvie Higgins said changing the color of the desk may make a difference, but she does not actively notice that detail.

“I don’t think it would be the kind of change that (a lot) of people notice until someone points out that it’s a change,” Higgins said. “Then they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s actually a good change.’” 

Higgins said the times she has used the Service Desk and ID Center have not been memorable. She said she only sees people lining up at the Service Desk at the beginning of the semester and does not know if there’s a real need to make this change. 

Accounting junior Preethi Srinivasan said she used the ID Center when she received her student ID as a freshman and remembers waiting in a long line during orientation. If merging the two desks will make things more efficient, she said it could positively impact incoming students. 

“It is nice to have a nicer looking area just because that’s one of the first impressions that students have of campus, especially the ID Center,” Srinivasan said. “That’s one of the first things you do as a UT student.”

Editor's note: This story was updated to correct the completion date of construction.