Students returning to UNLV on Aug. 29 for the start of the 1994-95 school year will find a number of changes awaiting them on campus. Three new buildings will offer approximately 266,000 additional square feet of classroom, laboratory, and office space.

By far the largest of the three is the 150,000-square-foot Classroom Building Complex. Located east of the Thomas & Mack Center and southwest of the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History, the $22 million complex features more than 50 classrooms and four auditoriums. Six thousand students are expected to use the building each weekday.

The complex also houses the departments of psychology, sociology, and mathematical sciences; the Ethics and Policy Studies Program; the College of Liberal Arts office; the Center for Survey Research and the Telephone Survey Center; Telemedia Services; and International Programs.

The complex is composed of three buildings -- the circular "A" building housing the four auditoriums, the "B" building housing faculty and departmental offices, and the "C" building housing the classrooms and seminar rooms.

To help students find their way around the new complex, maps showing the location of the complex and a diagram of the classrooms and auditoriums will be available at the complex and at other campus locations during the first week of classes. Additionally, a temporary information desk will be located on the first floor of the "B" building.

The parking lots closest to the Classroom Building Complex are at the Thomas & Mack Center.

In light of students' lack of familiarity with the new buildings, UNLV officials are urging students to arrive at campus early on their first few days of classes to allow ample time for parking and for locating new classrooms.

Another of UNLV's new buildings, the Student Services Complex, is located just south of the Classroom Building Complex and just west of the Howard Student Health Services Building.

The 46,000-square-foot, $6 million Student Services Complex houses the Donald W. Reynolds Student Service Center, the Newmont Student Development Center, and the Jean Nidetch Women's Center.

Many offices frequently used by students have relocated to the Student Services Complex. These include Student Financial Services, Disability Resource Services, Multicultural Student Services, Academic Advising and Tutoring, Career Services, Personal Counseling, Academic Advancement, the Bursar's Office, Athlete Academic Advising, and International Student Services.

Three donors made the Student Services Complex possible. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, named for the founder of the Donrey Media Group, provided $4 million; Newmont Gold Co. donated $1.5 million; and Weight Watchers International founder Jean Nidetch donated $500,000.

The new Robert L. Bigelow Physics Building, which is located just west of the Chemistry Building on the east-west mall, also will be open for the start of classes. The $11.4 million, 70,000-square-foot building is devoted entirely to the physics program. The building, which contains research and teaching labs, administrative offices, and an astronomy dome and telescope platforms, was funded in part by a donation from the Bigelow family.

"If enrollment projections prove true, there will be about 400 more students on campus this fall than last. Projections call for an enrollment of 20,094 students for fall semester 1994," said Jeffrey Halverson, dean of admissions and records. "That would be a 2.1 percent increase over the fall 1993 enrollment of 19,682."

"The official enrollment figures for fall 1994 will not be available until a few weeks after the start of classes," he said.