The number of students majoring in the sciences has quadrupled since the opening of the Owens Science Hall and O’Shaughnessy Science Hall, and the additional students and newly hired faculty require more space than both buildings provide.
“In 1997 when the Frey Science and Engineering Center (Owens Hall and O’Shaughnessy Science) opened there were 229 undergraduate students majoring in biology, chemistry, physics, geology and engineering,” Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Terrence Langan said. “Today, there are 1,007 undergraduate students majoring in the sciences.”
With the increased demand, majors like biochemistry, environmental science and neuroscience have been added. However, the expansion may be happening too quickly.
“Right now, we’re on half a floor in O’Shaughnessy Science Hall basement with 12 full-time faculty,” associate engineering professor Greg Mowry said.
Faculty members are not the only ones feeling confined by the space. Senior biology major Jane Lucas said students “are definitely feeling the squeeze.”
“I work in a lab where people are having to walk through it to get to another lab,” Lucas said.
Senior Luke Ginger said a few offices on the first floor of Owens Science Hall are like miniature cubicles.
“We have doubled the number of students in biology and faculty in biology without increasing the space,” Lewis said.
Lamb said the 200-level geology classes used to have about 14 students but have doubled to around 30 students. The 300-level class has also doubled. Lamb said that J-Term course enrollments have shot up too, and only majors get those slots.
Though senior Tom Langer said space is definitely tight, he believes the university is doing a good job using what it has.
“We recently turned a seminar room in OWS into a geo-chemistry lab. It is designed to hold eight students, but we have labs of 16 (students),” geology department chair Lisa Lamb said. “We are excited that we got this space, but we are going to have to squeeze.”
Tim Lewis, professor and chair of the biology department, said that “the problem isn’t just (being) crunched for space; it is that some programs like neuroscience are in the wrong buildings, and that’s not an easy solution.”
“They need the same labs as science majors do, and they are in a building that was not built for that,” Lewis said.
Right now, half of the neuroscience classes are in OWS, and the other half are housed in the John Roach Center.
The tight squeeze has also caused the departments to often share resources.
“It’s really nice that we can collaborate and that makes us stronger, but it also puts some limitations on us,” Lucas said. “We like to use some of the same machines as the geology department, but it is tough when there is a back up on how much time someone is going to be using it.”
Lewis said the department hopes to alleviate some of the issues over the summer.
“The university cares deeply, and they have been giving us good resources, short of building us an expensive new building,” Lewis said. “This summer, we will carve up hallway space in both buildings and turn it into offices. We have had to convert closets into offices, and we have had to give up several labs to create offices.”
However, if high enrollment numbers persist, Lewis said the long-term plan would be to expand a wing toward the parking lot between Loras Hall and OSS.
“The administration all knows of the science and engineering needs, and the first step is raising money, which takes a long time,” Lewis said. “The overall plan seems to be to build a science wing when it can be done, but we are not at the stage where one draws up plans.”
Lamb said a group of math, science, and engineering chairs are meeting at an upcoming retreat to talk about where added space is needed.
“If a new wing goes in, we will want to defragment our space and make it a more cohesive space,” Lamb said. “So if students are doing research, they are nearby, which is good for questions and safety reasons.”
Kelsey Broadwell can be reached at broa3324@stthomas.edu.
Let’s also talk about how the Music department is housed in half of the worst building on campus with dreadfully inadequate facilities and a quickly growing number of majors and non-major participants.
I agree with Stefan on this one. The Music Department is doing a SUPREME job but the BEC is not the best space for our musicians to use. Before donors look into giving money for a new science building, they should realize that Fine Arts are in dire need of a renovation or new building.
Again I’m going to one hundred percent agree with the two posts above. I’m glad numbers of science majors are increasing, that is great! But can someone PLEASE educate me the last time the BEC got ANY sort of renovation? The auditorium alone has cushions missing in quite a few chairs. And frankly the amount of events held in that space is an embarrassment for any visitors that come to UST. The auditorium isn’t the only space in that building that is hanging on by a thread. The fact that the Music Department doesn’t get any renovation funding is disheartening.
I suppose in an economy like ours the fine arts are usually the first thing to be cut, unfortunately.
I understand what you are trying to say, but think about this from the perspective of the university. When the dollars become harder and harder to come by, the university needs to put the money where the demand is. The music department may be growing, but the demand doesn’t match that of many other majors, the sciences specifically. When you have 1000+ people clamoring for space in the science halls, it becomes pretty apparent that an expansion is necessary.
While BEC is certainly not the nicest building on campus, I would be extremely disappointed if St. Thomas invested a hefty amount of money into the Music departments facilities. St. Thomas is not a performing arts school, and although we have many talented performers, I do not believe St. Thomas is drawing students in specifically for the music program. I, on the other hand, specifically chose St. Thomas because of their Neuroscience program as they are one of few schools in the area that offers such a major, and the fact that classes are almost impossible to get into and labs are overflowing in the science buildings seems like a much more pressing problem than old decor in BEC.
Sarah,
I think you are mistaken in thinking that we do not draw students specifically for our Music programs…in fact, that is why I am here! We have world class faculty and nationally recognized performing ensembles, but facilities that are worse than most high schools. You’re right…we’re not a “performing arts” school, but we are certainly a liberal arts college, which encompasses more than just a few programs. If you were to compare our facilities to those of any other school similar to ours, we would be easily at the bottom of the list (we easily have the most inadequate in the MIAC).
The problem in the BEC isn’t old decor…it is facilities that are not adequate to house a Music department at all. We don’t have an adequate recital hall (compare to a science lab for science majors). We have six practice rooms for over 100 majors that need to practice many hours a week. Our ceilings have mold on them and frankly, many parts of the building are falling apart. “Overflow” in the science buildings is a much better thing than facilities that are simply not adequate for the necessary activities of a department.
Stefan- I fully agree that BEC is not up-to-par with the rest of campus, but the truth is that science labs can only hold 24 students at a time (labs are usually 4 hours long) so given that St. Thomas is not adding new labs, and the popularity of science majors is increasing dramatically every year this is a huge concern. Example: In Fall 2012, only two sections of Biochemistry I are offered. Each of these sections holds 24 students (they’ve now increased the number to 32 each because of high demand). Currently in Organic Chemistry II (the prereq to Biochem) there are upwards of 200 students, almost all of which are planning to continue onto Biochemistry but are unable to due to a lack of space. This isn’t just a kink in someone’s scheduling plans, many science students are planning on grad school/med school/dental school etc. and have to complete certain prereqs before applying. As ochem students are usually Sophomores or Juniors, delaying offering a course due to lack of space could mean the difference between being able to continue schooling right away after graduation, or being forced to have to take a costly year off all because a course wasn’t offered. I believe a true muscian should be able to practice anywhere, not have to rely soley on practice rooms and recital…
Sarah, I agree with you that there needs to be something done about this, but the fact of the matter is some of these people who are Music Majors do not have access to space to use certain things. If you believe that a true musician should be able to practice anywhere, then you should see what a Music Major truly has to go through. Granted I am not a music major, but the fine arts at this school is becoming nationally renowned.
We are arguably one of the most under looked departments on campus that is housed in one of the worst buildings on campus. OWS and OSS are new, and that fact alone has helped get and draw in more majors for the sciences. That is great, and good job to the university, but the truth is, and This is from a non-music major, We have been nationally recorded for Television Broadcasts for our Christmas concerts twice in the past 2 years, Last Year the Chamber Singers performed at ACDA, which has put St. Thomas on the map as a premier Music Arts School as well as a premier school in the Midwest. The reason that no one know of the presence we have, is because of the lack of a true performing arts building. When they took down Foley Theater, and didn’t replace it, St. Thomas pretty much said that they don’t care too much about the Arts. BEC needs rennovation