University remodels rooms

Since the remodeling kick-off early last spring, students have seen a number of things around campus change, from the construction of then new student center to the revamping of classrooms.

One of the bigger projects has been installing new seating in some of the classrooms and lecture halls across campus.

"Classroom seating is not cheap but the stuff that we had in there was there for 20 years. We were taking chairs from other classrooms so what we ended up with was a multicolored classroom. We put in an entirely new seating system in and the stuff we have put in has a 10 year guarantee so the life of it will be great," Jim Patton, project manager, said.

The remodeling of rooms is not only benefiting the students; the professors and administration are also benefiting from it.

Faculty and students requested that there be more room in the present offices for meetings, so Dr. Allen D. Headley, Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, approached the University and requested funding to remodel the Graduate Studies Office. The request was granted and the work began early last spring. New offices are already completed and the construction on the conference room is almost done. These new offices provide more privacy for students meeting with faculty.

"I've received many praises from the faculty about the renovations, as well as the expansions of existing offices," Headley said. "We have also given more room in the entrance making it able to supply more information about the graduate program. The students are seeing this improvement in a more indirect way, it is benefiting the faculty, which in turn, benefits the students."

The request was to remodel the existing four offices in BA 142 and expand this office into BA 140.

"In BA 140 we created two offices and a conference room. The facility office did most of the work," Mark Giossi, assistant director of facilities, said. "The remodeled rooms were 142A, 142B, 142C, 142D. The newly created offices are 140A, 140B, 140C and 140, which is the open greeting area," Giossi said.

The repairs such as patching, painting, or replacing ceiling tiles were done as part of the remodeling.

"We often had five or six workers in one area at once, and sometimes it was only one person. It really depended on the current phase of the work, " Patton said.

According to Patten, there are also several other new projects currently under construction, each with its own funding.

"There are different funds that are available and each year we set aside money for areas that need improvement," Patton said.

One of those areas was the student center, currently being rebuilt in a new location and scheduled for completion in fall 2008 by Satterfield & Pontikes construction. It, along with other buildings, such as the alumni center, is getting completely redone in framework and in content.

"We are about to start work on a new alumni center. Construction on that ought to be about six months. It will be a dedicated center for alumni," Patton said. "The new alumni center will be between Temple Art Building and Heritage Gardens."