Contact: Sally Widman 610-409-3300mailto:[email protected]
URSINUS TO HOST NATIONAL WORKSHOP FOR COLLEGES SEEKING TO IMPROVE SCIENCE AND MATH FACILITIES
COLLEGEVILLE, Pa.-The frontiers of scientific discovery and technologykeep expanding and changing, and colleges--those incubators of future scientists--need to keep their facilities and curriculums current. New buildings and sophisticated instruments cost millions, yet are absolutely essential to quality teaching programs. What can colleges do to keep up with rapid change? How is it possible to plan for, finance and build a science building that will support the kinds of academic experiences which produce the best scientists?
These questions are pressing, but there are answers. On Nov. 16 and 17, 124 representatives from 33 U.S. colleges and universities will gather at Ursinus College for a to begin working on their own building plans and receive advice and guidance from architects and other academics who have recently completed such projects.
All will be attending a workshop titled "Planning Facilities for Undergraduate Science and Mathematics," sponsored by Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL,) an informal national alliance based in Washington, D.C. which works to build strong learning environments for undergraduate students in mathematics, engineering and the various fields of science. There is the potential for 33 new or renewed science buildings to come out of this meeting over the next 10 years.
The list of workshop attendees is dotted with presidents, vice presidents, deans, and numerous science professors from colleges both public and private, large and small. They include Connecticut College,Los Angeles City College, Loyola of New Orleans, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, the U.S. Naval Academy, St. Xavier, the University of Puget Sound and the University of the Redlands. Pennsylvania schools participating will be Franklin & Marshall and Moravian Colleges; St. Joseph's, Susquehanna and Widener universities, and the University of Scranton.
The case studies that are the focus of the weekend are Ursinus College's Pfahler Hall of Science, a $16 million renovation and expansion completed last year; Williams College's Unified Science Center, Brown University's Life Sciences Research Building and Spelman College's Science and Mathematics Building. PKAL Director Jeanne Narum will help lead the proceedings, along with Christina H. Shute, PKAL workshop coordinator.
Ursinus President John Strassburger, Dean Judith T. Levy, and Professor of Chemistry Victor Tortorelli will be among the presenters of the Ursinus case. Tortorelli and Strassburger attended a similar PKAL workshop several years ago when the planning for the Pfahler Hall renovation and expansion were in the formative stages. Other presenters/mentors include 15 architects from 11 architectural and planning firms; Peter L. Holden, director of bio-med support services at Brown; Sylvia T. Boseman, associate provost for science and mathematics at Spelman, and Charles M. Lovett, Jr., professor of chemistry and director of the Science Center at Williams College.
Throughout the weekend, groups from participating schools will have a chance to sit down as teams to begin or continue their own science facility planning discussions.
The workshop is based on the Project Kaleidoscope "What Works" philosophy, which states that curricular planning is the foundation for facilities planning. In other words, colleges need to build buildings that fit their programs. The best facilities, says the workshop agenda, "serve all students, make science visible, focus on hands-on,research-rich, discovery-based teaching that makes connections to other disciplines, ways of knowing and communities beyond the campus."
PKAL also believes the best teaching environments are those in which: -- Learning is collaborative and steeped in investigation from the very first courses for all students, through capstone courses for majors in mathematics and the various fields of science;-- Faculty are committed equally to undergraduate teaching and to their own research;-- All students are expected to succeed;-- And there is active and visible institutional support for such a community with a shared vision of what works.
Ursinus College Ursinus College, founded in 1869, is a highly selective, nationally ranked, independent, coeducational liberal arts college, located on a scenic, wooded, 165-acre campus, 28 miles from Center City Philadelphia.
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Editors, photos of the renovated Pfahler Hall at Ursinus are available in digital form upon request from the number or e-mail link above.
A complete list of participating institutions follows:
Albion College (Mich.)
Carroll College (Wisc.)
Columbia College (Mo.)
Connecticut College (Conn.)
Dakota Wesleyan University (S.D.)
Domincan University of California (Calif.)
Franklin & Marshall College (Pa.)
Lewis & Clark College (Ore.)
Loras College (Iowa)
Los Angeles City College (Calif.)
Loyola University, New Orleans (La.)
Missouri Western State College (Mo.)
Montclair State University (N.J.)
Moravian College (Pa.)
Mt. San Antonio Community College (Calif.)
Northeastern State University (Okla.)
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (N.J.)
St. Frances University (Ill.)
St. Joseph's University (Pa.)
St. Martin's College (Wash.)
St. Xavier University (Ill.)
St. Edward's University (Texas)
St. Mary's College of Maryland (Md.)
St. Norbert College (Wisc.)
Susquehanna University (Pa.)
U.S. Naval Academy (Md.)
University of Puget Sound (Wash.)
University of the Redlands (Calif.)
University of Scranton (Calif.)
West Virginia Wesleyan College (W. Va.)
Wheaton College (Ill.)
Widener University (Pa.)
Presenters's Institutions are as follows:
Brown University (R.I.)
Ballinger Architect (N.J.)
Celli Flynn Brennan (Pa.)
Davidson College (SC)
DePauw University (Ind.)
Earl Walls Associates (Calif)
Harvey Mudd College (Calif.)
MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni Architects (Pa.)
Perkins & Will, Atlanta (Ga.)
Research Facilities Design (Calif.)
Spelman College (Ga.)
St. Olaf College (Minn.)
The Stubbins Associates, Inc. (Mass.)
Ursinus College (Pa.)
van Dijk, Pace, Westlake Architects (Ariz.)
Williams College (Mass.)
Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership (Md.)
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