Standard 8: Physical and Technological Resources
Description
Physical Resources. SCSU's campus of 172 acres lies in the New Haven neighborhoods of Beaver Hills and West Rock with a small portion extending over the city line into the town of Hamden. This is an area in which urban streets in both New Haven and Hamden gradually transition towards the west to lower density and more suburban environs.
There are 43 buildings on campus, two parking garages, several small utility buildings, plus enclosed structures connected to athletic fields. Academic programs and classes take place in 15 of the buildings, a reduction from the number used for academics a decade ago due to demolition of several temporary buildings. Included in the academic and administrative count are the main exercise science, athletics, and recreation building (Moore Field House) and the smaller Pelz Gymnasium. Nine large residence halls and four smaller townhouse buildings accommodate 2,800 students. Administrative offices and operations are distributed throughout the buildings, but many are located in Engleman Hall, the Wintergreen Building, and Facilities Operations. Total building space is currently 2,541,488 sq. ft., gross (GSF). SCSU rents space at one off-campus location in East Lyme, Connecticut, for a graduate program in Special Education.
Primary source documents for the university's facilities planning include the Connecticut State University System 2020 Plan (CSU 2020), an act approved in 2007 that authorized up to $950 million for this system-wide capital improvement plan. It authorizes funds through 2018 that will provide three critical new academic buildings, large-scale renovations in several major buildings, and code compliance efforts and infrastructure improvements in many areas of campus. Total funding for SCSU is $250,435,500.
Campus sustainability is a priority for the university and many of its students. In 2007, SCSU became a charter signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (PCC). This commitment means that SCSU will reduce its carbon footprint to zero by 2050 or sooner. Currently, planned new buildings will be designed for LEED Silver Certification. In 2009, a Master Plan Amendment was approved following an Environmental Impact Evaluation prepared by Fuss and O'Neill, Inc.
The first version of the university's Master Plan was developed in 1993 by Dober, Lidsky and Craig and had been revised by the 2004 Campus Plan Update, done by Symmes, Maini & McKee Assoc. (SMMA). The Update drew upon the Program for the Master Plan, prepared by Paulien Assoc. in 2003 and a 2002 Facilities Condition Assessment by VFA, Inc. The Instructional Space Utilization Analysis was submitted by Rickes Associates, Inc. as part of the New Academic and Laboratory Building Pre-Design Final Report by Centerbrook Architects and Planners, submitted in January 2011. These documents supplied most of the descriptive data reported here and normative information on which our appraisal is based. They identify 2015 as the target year for certain projections, such as expanded enrollments and the facilities that will be needed to serve a larger student population. Program and/or design documents also exist for the buildings for which renovations are under way or pending approvals at the state level.
A utilization study was part of the program for the Master Plan done by Paulien in 2003. The Paulien Study however, did not examine various aspects of curriculum and instruction that affect how SCSU's specific needs could be most efficiently met. The recent Rickes Associates study examined general-purpose classroom/lecture hall utilization and specialized space utilization associated with the natural sciences, since the first of the new CSU 2020 buildings is the Academic Laboratory Building. The study included intensive and reflective discussions with faculty and administrators regarding curriculum needs and current and projected larger enrollments in 2015.
SCSU has 78 general-purpose classrooms defined as having less than 74 seats, with a combined capacity of 2,712 and 48,406 net sq. ft. Seven lecture halls range in capacity from 74 to 350, with a combined capacity of 1,111 in a total of 13,691 net sq. ft. Thus, classrooms and lecture halls together provide a capacity of 3,823 in 62,097 net sq. ft. Engleman Hall contains just over half of all general-purpose instructional space on campus, along with offices for many academic/administrative functions and for 165 of the university's current 433 full-time faculty. Approximately 30% of the general-purpose classroom and lecture hall space is split between Davis and Morrill Halls. Davis also houses several departments of the School of Education and instructional and clinical facilities for the Communication Disorders department and Marriage and Family Therapy program. Science laboratories are primarily housed in Jennings Hall, along with nursing and computer science labs, with additional computer science facilities and earth science laboratories in Morrill Hall. Nursing also has a new 5,000 sq. ft. building built with federal funding. The art and music departments are housed in Earl Hall and the Theatre Department in Lyman Center. Seabury Hall contains the offices of the School of Business. Other academic departments and classrooms are located in Temporary Buildings 6 and 8, Office Building 1, Buley Library, Lang House, Orlando House, Moore Field House, and Pelz Gymnasium. Major renovation projects are planned or are in progress for several buildings. The Buley Library renovation project is most critical (see Standard 7). An addition to the original Buley building was completed as part of the first phase of the original Campus Master Plan. Larger than the original building, the addition now houses all library functions. The completion of the new wing added 135,430 GSF, resulting in a significant net gain in academic space. Although the renovation of the older building, a $31.6 million project, was delayed for some time due to lack of funding, the university recently obtained approval to redirect $18.5 million from downsized or lower-priority projects to complete the work. It is expected that renovations will resume in summer 2012.
A complete renovation of the former Student Center building will convert the structure to a new home for the School of Business, which currently enrolls 1,266 students (undergraduate and graduate). The state Bond Commission has approved granting SCSU $3.8 million for the renovation, the final allocation needed for the $6.6 million project to begin. Previous allocations from the Bond Commission and CSUS 2020 also have contributed to the total budget. The building will encompass about 23,000 sq. ft. and will house business faculty offices, classrooms, meeting rooms, and workshop space. It will enable faculty to relocate from the dilapidated Seabury Hall, built in 1956. Plans call for Seabury, a former dormitory, to be demolished after the renovations are completed. The renovation began in spring 2011 and is estimated to be completed in a year.
A new 1,200-car parking garage is to be built on the current site of Parking Lot 7, adjoining Moore Field House. Construction began in August 2011 with an estimated cost of $15,400,000.
Pre-design has been completed for the new Academic Laboratory Building to be built between Jennings Hall, the main science building on campus, and Fitch St. The 98,449 GSF building will provide 58,249 assignable sq. ft. (ASF) for biology, chemistry, earth science, environmental studies, and physics and will house the proposed CSUS Nanotechnology Center and the Center for Coastal and Marine Studies. The building's estimated construction cost is $49,475,727, including site costs, telecommunications and fixed equipment. All introductory-level course labs will remain in Jennings and Morrill halls, as will many intermediate and upper-level course labs and research space in a number of specific subfields. The new building will provide dramatically improved space for advanced courses, research training and original discovery in fields for which the older buildings were not designed. In common with other university space planning, much of the program was guided by faculty input through a Science Building Advisory Committee, with representatives selected by each of the five science departments. The new building will emphasize upper-level course labs and support spaces for faculty and student research in which both undergraduate and graduate students contribute directly to original work in critical areas of scientific investigation. The labs will meet all contemporary requirements such as advanced vibration isolation for nanotechnology instrumentation. The new building will also advance the university's scientific equipment base, already a strength. Construction is expected to begin in late 2012 or early 2013, pending the Governor's approval to fund CSU 2020 next year.
Smaller scale renovation projects are continually undertaken across campus to correct identified problems, increase access, modernize spaces, and adapt to changing requirements associated with new or evolving programs, enrollment shifts, or other needs. Individual departments and other units may submit project requests for such improvements with their dean's (or appropriate manager's) approval. The request is then considered by the University Space Committee, a representative body of faculty members chosen through a university-wide election process, as well as a wide array of administrative. Recommended projects then proceed through a series of planning and budgeting stages with design and construction either done by commercial firms or less frequently by facilities personnel. Although these projects tend to be on a limited scale and often with budgets of under $100,000, they have proven to be extremely important to many departments in making their space more suitable for their activities and allowing them to adapt older spaces to new needs.
Two additional academic building projects in CSU 2020 are expected to rectify deficiencies in the quantity and suitability of specialized departmental spaces. The first will be for the School of Health and Human Services; the total project authorization including construction of this building near the new Academic Laboratory Building is $60,412,000 in Phase III of CSU 2020 (2015-2018). A Fine Arts Instructional Center that will replace Earl Hall will follow; the total project is authorized at $70,929,000.
SCSU adheres to the letter and spirit of key civil rights laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. SCSU monitors and makes reasonable modifications in policies, practices, procedures, and facilities to accommodate students with disabilities. The Disability Resource Center (DRC) acts to ensure educational equity for students with disabilities. Only one classroom on campus (Davis Hall 102) is inaccessible to persons with mobility limitations. If a student who requires an accessible classroom has a class scheduled there, DRC arranges to relocate the class. A campus-based lift-equipped shuttle provides transportation on campus for students with mobility impairments or other disabilities that limit their ability to get around campus. Accessible parking is provided near the entrances of all buildings. The only major building on campus with inaccessible upper floors is Seabury, for which replacement and demolition is planned for late 2012.
The Center for Adaptive Technology (CAT) helps students with disabilities learn to use assistive technology. The CAT arranges for technology-based accommodations, both in and out of the classroom. Adaptive technology has been installed in several locations on campus.
The SCSU Emergency Management Plan provides a programmed response to emergency situations so that the life and health of the campus community and the operations of the university are protected. Proposed changes in the Plan are considered by the Joint Labor Management Health and Safety Committee. SCSU's Emergency Notification System, SCSUALERT, conveys important information to the campus community in the event of an emergency, weather-related closing/delay, or other potentially hazardous situation.
In the past decade, faculty and students have made use of some special remote locations that, while not holdings of the university, have formal agreements for providing access for research led by SCSU faculty. Anthropology Professor Michael Rogers, his colleagues, and students have made significant findings of hominid remains and artifacts at the summer field school in Tanzania, located at Laetoli and Olduvai Gorge. Earth Science Professor Thomas Fleming has done extensive research with his students at National Science Foundation facilities in Antarctica. Physics Professor Elliott Horch has utilized the Hubble Space Telescope, on which he was awarded guaranteed observing time for binary star studies. In each of the projects at these distant sites and in others from disciplines across the university, undergraduate students were active participants, expanding their college experience far beyond the campus.
Technological Resources. The Office of Information Technology (OIT) currently consists of five departments, located in four buildings across campus. In August 2009, a new OIT building opened, housing the CIO and associated support staff, the main IT Help Desk, the Network and Telecommunications Department, and the Enterprise Applications Department. In addition, the User Services area moved to a temporary location in Buley Library. These departments were moved from a temporary building, where they were located for several years.
In fall 2009, an upgrade and expansion of the University Data Center was completed. This expansion added approximately 1,200 square feet to the Data Center footprint, and totally upgraded the electrical infrastructure, UPS (uninterrupted power supply) system, and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems. While this expansion was necessary to support current needs, it is only considered to be a temporary solution.
During fall 2009, the Department of Teaching and Learning moved into an upgraded space in the basement of Engleman Hall. This space includes staff offices, a training lab, and AV/TV storage space. In addition, the Adaptive Technology Department is located on the lower level of Engleman Hall and provides a convenient space for students with special technology needs. OIT also occupies a large warehouse-type storage center, several small storage rooms, and over 100 network closets that spread across the campus. The two public-access computer labs in Jennings Hall and Buley Library also house satellite service centers.
The responsibility for the campus network has been transitioned to a team including the Systems and Infrastructure group within OIT. They are responsible for analysis, capacity planning, and implementation of all network changes. The campus network has been re-engineered using a multiple-tiered model (access, distribution, core, the wide area network). Each layer of the network has been designed to be fault-tolerant and redundant. The importance of the campus network cannot be understated, as the Internet and shared campus computing resources are fundamental tools for teaching and learning. All efforts have been made to ensure reliable, secure, and adequate access and bandwidth. In addition, a project is currently under way to significantly upgrade and expand the campus wireless network.
Eighty-four classrooms (general classrooms and lecture halls) have an instructor station with a workstation, a network connection, and video projection equipment. Certain seminar rooms and non-computer labs have network connections, but no projection equipment, although a video projector can be delivered on a cart. Eight classrooms function as computer lab/classrooms, with workstations for each student. Seven classrooms are equipped with smart boards. In addition, the Teaching and Learning Group within OIT has a training facility in Engleman B025 with 13 seats.
Appraisal
Significant new construction and major renovations have increased or enhanced space in almost all elements of the university over the last 10 years. The campus grounds have been greatly improved and the old unattractive temporary structures in the heart of campus are gone. Ten years ago it was difficult to imagine that the campus would garner spontaneous compliments from students and visitors. At that time, Phase I of the original Master Plan was expected to be a major step toward a physical transformation of the university. This has been achieved even with the final Phase I project - the renovation of Buley Library - not yet complete. While there is a widespread sense of urgency from students to the President that Buley must be finished as rapidly as possible, it is seen as an exception to a broad pattern of positive change.
The most critical of the decade's projects was expansion of existing wings, total renovation throughout, and addition of a new wing to the university's main academic and administrative building, Engleman Hall. Over 64,300 GSF were added to Engleman, bringing it to 224,599 GSF. Striking enlargement and improvements in academic, administrative, and student services space resulted from completion of this project. With the exception of a few stairways and entrances, the interior of the building is almost unrecognizable when compared to its prior condition. Academic departments within the humanities and social sciences as well as mathematics are located in Engleman, all of which now have dramatically enhanced space. Engleman classrooms are now attractive learning spaces with ample technology to support instruction. Only a few classrooms and meeting rooms were added, but a large number of faculty offices, offices for adjunct instructors, improved and expanded department offices, psychology and anthropology labs, and study areas for students solved long-standing deficiencies. Faculty offices in Engleman now provide 150 sq. ft. for each full-time member. The executive offices were consolidated on the top floor of the expanded A-wing. New professionally appointed office suites were created for such critical administrative centers as the Dean of Students Office, Sponsored Programs and Research, the Research Protection Program, the Disability Resource Center, and many others. Numerous student services and support functions such as the Tutorial and Writing centers also gained dramatically better facilities. Throughout Engleman, the design provided for a high degree of accessibility. A new student lounge with coffee shop, patio seating, and vending area is heavily used.
An entirely new 129,607 GSF Student Center, named for former President Michel J. Adanti, was also completed, replacing the former 43,550 GSF Student Center. The new center provides a much expanded food court, a fitness center, numerous meeting rooms, Student Activities and other Student Services offices, theater, bookstore, credit union branch, computer lab, and student lounge. An important space is the center's large ballroom, the site of a wide range of events, including conferences hosted by academic programs and campus organizations, university-wide meetings, annual admissions open houses, advisement fairs, and receptions.
A new 16,580 GSF Energy Center facility was built at the west edge of campus, replacing an aging steam plant, making room for planned new construction. In addition, a massive replacement program for steam distribution lines and other sub-surface utilities was completed, raising energy efficiency and reliability throughout the campus.
Residence hall capacity, attractiveness and choice were elevated with the construction of the 112,722 GSF West Campus Residence Complex, housing 350 students in a combination of suites and double or triple rooms. The complex is the university's first LEED-certified residence hall. Along with the new residence hall, the 148,098 GSF West Campus garage was built, adding 450 new parking spaces for on-campus student vehicles.
Three other new buildings were constructed to address specific academic and administrative program needs. A new 5,000 GSF building near Davis Hall provides additional space for the nursing program, in response to increased enrollments and statewide demand for more registered nurses. Office Building 1, with 12,000 GSF, is situated across from the Wintergreen building and houses two academic departments and OIT. Temporary Building 6 was built next to Office Building 1 and houses academic departmental and faculty offices in 6,128 GSF. When the bookstore opened in the Adanti Student Center, the 4,961 GSF modular building it had occupied was converted to classroom space, adding five classrooms and one seminar room to the university's instructional space in close proximity to the School of Business.
The recent Instructional Space Utilization Analysis by Rickes Assoc. found that there remains at present a total shortfall in combined classroom and lecture hall space of 13,854 net ASF. Assuming 5% aggregate enrollment growth by 2015 and no change in the instructional space inventory, this deficiency would grow to 16,054 ASF. As described in the Projections to follow, currently anticipated building projects will address this deficiency, but execution of these building plans will extend to approximately 2015 as well. In the interim, departments will continue to face tight constraints on times and locations for their class schedules and little or no flexibility will exist for the most heavily used time blocks. Cramped seating is common, with the average number of assignable square feet per student approximately 19% below recommendation in classrooms and almost 31% in lecture halls. High utilization rates of many rooms complicate scheduling of routine maintenance and repair, and the lack of spare classrooms during peak periods makes it difficult or impossible to take rooms offline for renovations. The university's plans for addressing this issue must remain a high priority.
Qualitative classroom problems also exist in various buildings, ranging from deterioration due to the age of certain buildings to low ceilings in some areas that make viewing projection screens more difficult. Acoustics and lighting are issues in some lecture halls. Buildings designed decades ago do not meet the more sophisticated requirements of the current curriculum and level of faculty and student research and creative activity. Generally, specialized instructional spaces for upper-level courses and projects lack essential characteristics that are considered standard for academic buildings today. This problem is acute in the sciences and arts, with all earth science laboratories in Morrill Hall, many upper-level and most research laboratories in Jennings, art studios and music spaces in Earl, and Theatre Department facilities in Lyman Center being poorly matched to the work now conducted in those fields. In response to these and other considerations, future construction projects will address these needs.
Extensive qualitative concerns exist for many buildings that have not yet been renovated on a large scale. In 2003, the Facilities Condition Assessment by VFA, Inc. closely examined 26 buildings with known faults that had not yet been scheduled for major renovation or replacement. The buildings ranged from 5,566 GSF Orlando House to the North Campus Residence Complex at 152,360 GSF. Costs for needed improvements were estimated for each of the structures and compared against their replacement values to generate recommended courses of actions for each. Several of the buildings subsequently underwent extensive improvements that have addressed many of the problems, but many others remain unresolved. Of buildings devoted to academics and administration, Earl and Jennings were found to have the largest absolute renovation costs, and over $5 million has been provided by the state for electrical and mechanical upgrades that are getting under way. Numerous smaller renovation projects have very much enhanced the suitability of the specific facilities to support individual programs.
The VFA study revealed the most costly buildings to renovate were residence halls, with six of the nine large complexes in need of over $4 million each, representing large fractions of those buildings' replacement values. The amended Master Plan calls for systematic replacement of several of those buildings with new residence halls, but the process of bonding through the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (CHEFA) and subsequent construction will extend over a number of years. In the interim, the cost of repairs and incremental improvements will continue to represent a significant expense.
Technology. The location of OIT departments in disparate parts of the campus has had a negative impact on the efficiency of the department in the past. While it is still far from its goal of a centralized location for all of its core services, OIT has seen some consolidation of workspace, and its office and work space has seen significant improvement. The main OIT location in Office Building 1 is the central hub for all Help Desk and call center issues which service the entire campus. In addition, satellite service centers in the Jennings computer lab and Buley Library computer lab have created more convenient locations for faculty, staff, and students to seek in-person assistance. The move of the Teaching and Learning Department to Engleman has provided a convenient centralized location for faculty seeking assistance with teaching and research technology. This location includes upgraded workspace for multimedia production and a 10-station facility for faculty and staff training. Recently, the networking team has been merged with the server teams to create an Enterprise Systems and Infrastructure group, now located near the Data Center in Jennings Hall.
OIT supports three public access computer labs and over 40 departmental computer labs. Since the last NEASC study, all university classrooms and classroom/computer labs have been equipped with permanently mounted projection systems, as well as Internet connectivity. Faculty members have been encouraged to choose laptop computers, which can easily be carried to class and connected to the network and projection facilities.
Significant improvements were made to the university network since the previous NEASC study. Current uplinks to the core and distribution layers are 2 Gbps (gigabits per second) with plans to move to 10 Gbps in the near future. Current links to the desktop are rated at 1 Gbps to faculty and staff and 100 Mbps to residence halls. The commodity Internet link is 200 Mbps. Also, firewall and packet shaping rules were simplified to improve performance.
Projection
The state of the economy and the resulting pressures on the State budget impact assumptions about funding for the major academic building and renovation projects planned for the coming years. While recognizing that these external economic factors may impose delays on some of these projects, the university projects that once Buley Library and the former Student Center are renovated and the Academic Laboratory Building is constructed, large longstanding shortfalls in general-purpose classrooms and scientific laboratories will have been effectively addressed. For the first time in decades, there will be suitable library space and resources and problems with academic and administrative offices and computing infrastructure will be minimized. Plans call for these projects to finish during or before 2015, the near-term target year for the university's Master Plan; barring economic setbacks to the state, we find that timeline to be realistic.
The critical near-term projects identified above will not address the university's needs for specialized instructional and other discipline-specific space outside the sciences and library-related programs. However, the Fine Arts Instructional and the School of Health and Human Services buildings authorized in Phase III of the CSU 2020 legislation will do so effectively. When that sequence of projects is completed (~2020), the university will meet all outstanding and anticipated standards for these types of spaces and for diverse styles of instruction. In addition to having sufficient assignable area, SCSU will then have academic and support facilities and technology that meet its full range of contemporary needs and are sufficient for a growing undergraduate and graduate student body. A projected fall 2012 completion of the renovations to the former Student Center will enable the School of Business to move to its new home. Seabury Hall will subsequently be demolished to free land for future construction of the Fine Arts Instructional Center.
Renovation of Buley Library will have far-reaching impact. With the library complex enlarged to nearly 250,000 GSF, it will be in keeping with norms associated with SCSU's mission and enrollment. Technology resources will be greatly advanced. Operational activities and student study will have more suitable settings. Two new 1,000 ASF classrooms will be a step towards reducing the shortage of general-purpose teaching space. The large student computer lab and the university's Data Center, now located in Jennings, will be transferred to space in Buley, although this plan is expected to take four to five years to fully realize. When the transfer is complete, 5431 sq. ft will become available to renovate into classrooms.
The Academic Laboratory Building will bring to SCSU for the first time scientific laboratories designed to support advanced work in critical areas of current and emerging interest. The building's research labs are being designed to fully integrate student research training and participation with faculty scholarship. The facility thus enables more students to experience fully the professional practice of science. As one example, the CSUS Nanotechnology Center (NTC) and physics faculty-led labs will include rooms with high levels of vibration and magnetic field isolation for high-performance scanning and transmission electron microscopes, multiple atomic force microscopes, a focused ion beam system, and sub-diffraction limited optical imaging. Ample seating in the labs and support spaces will give students abundant opportunities to participate. An NTC multi-purpose lab will have space for workshops and classes to learn the newest techniques with which NTC's investigations are pursued.
Space in the new building for the Department of Science Education and Environmental Studies, including the Center for Coastal and Marine Studies, will add 6,916 ASF to only 2,386 ASF now occupied by the department in Jennings. Earth Science will more than double its total space, but more significant will be the high degree of suitability of the new space to its program and scientific pursuits, given the cramped, outdated condition of its current rooms in Morrill. The Biology Department will continue to occupy substantial space in Jennings, with the new building adding several thousand square feet to house the department's most lab-intensive research endeavors. Chemistry space will increase by over 22%. As a result, many technical limitations of various labs imposed by outdated designs and room layouts in Jennings will be overcome. The Laboratory Building also will house two 50-seat general-purpose classrooms totaling 2,178 ASF. Relocation of labs and offices to the new building will free over 10,000 ASF in Jennings and Morrill, including 7,099 ASF identified for conversion to general-purpose classrooms and seminar rooms.
Combined space totaling 16,708 ASF will become available for general-purpose classroom assignment as a result of the Buley renovation and construction of the new Laboratory Building. This may be compared with Rickes Associates' 2015 optimum need recommendation for general-purpose instructional space, assuming 5% aggregate enrollment growth, which is 16,054 ASF. Thus completion of Buley Library renovations and the new Laboratory Building will meet the projected need for general-purpose classrooms and lecture halls by the Master Plan target year of 2015. As program-specific classrooms and seminar rooms are added, the demand for general-purpose rooms by way of the university scheduling officer can be further alleviated. Additional teaching spaces will be included in the CSU 2020 Phase III buildings, insuring that once the shortfall has been removed by near-term projects, it does not re-emerge.
These same projects will also create exciting changes in the campus' appearance. The former Student Center conversion will positively alter the face of the university that one sees when driving into SCSU's main entrance on Crescent Street. Buley's "under construction" state badly detracts from the appearance of the academic quad, and simply removing the signs of demolition would be welcome; however, the project will include updating the building's exterior, which visually commands the entire area. The new Laboratory Building will form one side and Jennings and Morrill the opposite side of an attractive Science Quad that will replace a parking lot and nondescript temporary building, TE-7 (a parking structure will be built to replace the lost parking space). The new building for the School of Health and Human Services will later join these buildings. The creation of this Science Quad will cluster related fields in a coherent group of buildings around an appealing pedestrian setting. This arrangement will encourage interdisciplinary interactions and facilitate student traffic among the buildings in which most of their classes, labs, and interactions with faculty occur.
Ten years ago, SCSU's physical resources, pervasively inadequate in quantity and condition, posed serious impediments to most of the endeavors of its students, faculty, and administration. Today that is no longer the case, a testament to the sustained intense effort of the leadership of Facilities Planning and Operations and the commitments made by every level of the university, CSUS, and the State. SCSU projects that this upward trajectory will continue, and 10 years from now, the university's physical resources will be one of its major assets.
Technology. The renovation of Buley Library will bring a significant increase in OIT-designated space. Current plans call for 40 office and work areas. In addition, 5000 square feet of space will be set aside for the construction of a new state-of-the art University Data Center, which will be critical to support the hardware required for new and current academic and administrative projects. As part of the move to the new Buley space, the OIT-supported public computer labs will be migrated to a new Learning Commons environment, which will not only provide public access computers, similar to the current labs, but will also provide workspace for students with their own laptops, as well as private, technology-equipped spaces for collaborative learning. A mobile printing service and a variety of conveniently located self-service print stations will be available on campus. Network upgrades will continue on a cyclical basis. A six-year life-cycle plan for capacity planning, funding, and technical implementation of network equipment will be finalized. A major project, currently underway to expand wireless access to all areas of the campus, will be completed, upgrading wireless service from 802.11g, which is rated at 54 Mbps to 802.11n, which supports 100 Mbps. Phase 1 of the project, upgrading academic and administrative buildings has been completed. Phase 2, for residence halls, will begin in fall 2011. A plan calls for upgrading technology equipment in seven classrooms per year, based on age of equipment.
Institutional Effectiveness
The university conducts a review of its Master Facilities Plan every five to seven years, and more frequently if needed. As part of the ongoing evaluation, a full program review is conducted of all academic programs to assess and plan for future facility needs. The identified program needs become the driving force in the development/revision of the Master Facilities Plan, and budgetary allocations are determined according to the identified needs. SCSU, working with the CSU System Office, continuously evaluates and upgrades its technology infrastructure including network, telecommunication, and data centers. The CSUS conducts a comprehensive review of system-wide technology infrastructure every three years, and more frequently if needed. All of SCSU's network equipment is on a five-year refreshment cycle. The data center is part of the university's Master Facilities Plan and is reviewed every five to seven years. The university follows best practices to ensure a state-of-the-art data center that supports the ever-increasing demands in technology.
