Students looking for the Office of Student Aid will soon need to look further than 335 Boucke, the University director of financial aid said.

Director of Student Aid Robert Evans said due to the office's move to its new location in 314 Shields, it will be closed today and possibly tomorrow. Three factors prompted the office's relocation, he said.

First, the financial aid staff needed additional space - the rest of third floor Boucke is filled with classrooms, leaving no room for expansion of the financial aid offices, he said.

Secondly, Shields is ideal for the financial aid offices because it also houses the bursar and registrar offices, Evans said. And finally, the new location will place the staff closer to new students, because the Undergraduate Admissions Office is in 201 Shields, he said.

"I am extremely delighted because I think those three objectives are important to the University and we've accomplished them in the move," Evans said.

James Dugan, director of facilities and resource management, said the area in Boucke formerly used by the Office of Student Aid will soon be occupied by the Academic Support Center for Student-Athletes, now in 401 Boucke; the Intensive English Communication Program, now in 101 Keller; the Returning Adult Student Center, now in 102 Boucke; and the Veterans Outreach Program, now in 121 Grange.

These services have established different time schedules for relocation, representatives of the offices said, with some moves taking place this summer, and others planning for fall.

The Office of Student Aid had been planning the move for three years while the new location in Shields -- previously occupied by the Accounting Operations and Purchasing Services offices -- was being renovated, Evans said.

The staff had been crowded in Boucke, but the new offices in Shields will provide more room for them as well as their clients, he said, noting that a large reception area will be included at the new location.

Evans said he wants the offices open by tomorrow, but stressed that with 60 full-time people, the move takes time.

The major reason for closing the Office of Student Aid is the time involved in moving the telephone lines and computer systems, Evans said. Telephone lines must be hooked up, and the telecommunications system must be shut down, re-started and tested, he said.

"It's not that we can't get there quickly, it's just that we don't have the equipment," Evans said.

Evans said Telecommunication and Management Services, which operates the computer system, has done a good job in making the move run smoothly.

"The transition is very efficient. If this had not been a smooth move it could have been a nightmare," he said.