APSU Student Affairs outlines Engage plan updates: Chick‑fil‑A, new classrooms, summer early‑childhood enrollment

Dr. Leonard Clemens, vice president for student affairs at Austin Peay State University, provided the Student Affairs Committee with an update on implementing Engage, the student affairs strategic plan, including expanded dining, classroom openings and early‑childhood program growth.

"We are expanding our food court," Clemens said, describing plans to convert the former food hall café into a full‑service Chick‑fil‑A and to add additional vendors. Clemens said the campus will add Subway and another eatery, and he characterized the planned Chick‑fil‑A as "full service and extremely large for student lounging," adding it is expected to open in fall 2025. He credited Joe Mills, John Carter and Lizzie Gilmore and campus partners in physical and capital planning for their roles in the project.

Clemens told the committee that two new classrooms have opened in the Little Gov's Learning Center and that the program is expanding to offer summer enrollment for the first time; he said the summer offering will serve more than 40 families seeking early‑childhood care. He also said student affairs will provide an end‑of‑year impact report at upcoming committee meetings that will summarize the year's work across student affairs.

The update was informational and required no committee action. Trustee Jenkins asked whether the Chick‑fil‑A would be open by homecoming; Clemens replied that it would. No budget figures, vendor contracts, lease terms, or firm construction schedules were provided in the committee's discussion recorded in the transcript.