Professors are packing and excitement is building as the Department of English and the Department of Performance Studies faculty prepare to move to the Liberal Arts &
Humanities building.
The move from Blocker to the Liberal Arts building, which begins Nov. 5, has already brought complications and inconveniences for professors and students. The main complaint of professors preparing for the transition is the timing of the move itself.
There is no good time to do one of these moves, but there are bad times, said James Harner, professor in the Department of English. This is a bad time.
With pre-registration quickly approaching, Harner said the timing of the move creates a burden on faculty and particularly students, with the possibility of the absence of office hours and a shortage of professor availability to students during the week of the move.
Its not ideal because people are starting to come in right now to talk about their registration plans, said Jaclyn Upshaw-Brown, academic adviser in the Department of English.
To offset the negative effects on students having limited access to their advisers, Upshaw-Brown said she encourages students to come in earlier
for advising.
Autum Casey, instructional assistant professor in the Department of Performance Studies, looked past the inconveniences of moving and focused on the positive aspects of the move.
While moving mid-semester is not ideal, transition into a brand new building designed with our programs in mind outweighs any small inconveniences that may arise, Casey said.
Though the transition to the new building presents challenges, many faculty members look forward to getting settled in the building to begin utilizing the new technology and spacious meeting rooms intended to enhance the undergraduate experience in Liberal Arts.
Both departments stand to benefit greatly from the new facilities.
[The new building will have] excellent new shop spaces for the Theatre Arts Program, enhanced rehearsal and ensemble rooms for the Music Program, a state of the art recording studio and black-box theatre and new computing and teaching labs for both programs, said Harris Berger, Head of the Department of Performance Studies.
Departments that were once scattered across campus will now have an official space to call their own. With the opening of the building in Spring 2013, the College of Liberal Arts will enhance its program through updated technology and facilities.
The university understood that it is really important to grow the liberal arts and sciences, said Jos Luis Bermdez, dean of liberal arts The new building is incredibly symbolic of the commitment thats been made to [those programs] and the progress thats been made.