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Biology professors say biosciences building needed because Brooks Hall isn't 'very reliable for research'

(03/27/13 12:00pm)

Some Central Michigan University faculty members hope the new biosciences building is built in order to have more effective teaching spaces and more secure labs. “The new building will give us new opportunities to change the ways we teach, which will really benefit students and the way we do research,” said Associate Professor of Biology Jennifer Schisa. A schematic design for the new $95 million facility was approved at December’s Board of Trustees meeting, but no further action was taken to approve the plans until Tuesday's Academic Senate meeting, when University President George Ross announced construction would begin in the fall. The project will take 30 months to complete. Brooks Hall, the current building, has faced many issues in the past few years, including flooding, mold and inadequate space for faculty members.  “There are two major problems with Brooks. One is that there is not enough space, and the other is that the space doesn’t support the research. The building’s infrastructure isn’t very reliable for research,” Schisa said. Some faculty members have felt the effects of the inadequacies of Brooks Hall. “My lab has been flooded once or twice due to mainlines breaking," Professor of Biology Thomas Gehring said. "When the first flood happened, I was summer teaching. I had to cancel class and clear out my lab because there was water pouring in. We didn’t lose anything, but it was an inconvenience." Other faculty members have not been so lucky. Some have had students who have not been able to conduct research because of the conditions. “My graduate student suffered from a flood a few summers ago. It prevented her from getting any research done for most of the summer, because she needed to use the electron microscopes in the basement and couldn’t get to them,” Professor of Biology Philip Hertzler said. Contamination is another issue within Brooks. Some faculty members do not want to risk having their samples contaminated due to mold problems and poor air quality. “The cutting edge research techniques most of us are using now require certain conditions such as sterility,” Schisa said. “We have a lot of mold problems, and it can contaminate samples. We recently brought back a lot of interesting samples back from the Antarctic expedition, and it is unclear if this building has the right air quality to work with them without contamination.” Some faculty members' teaching methods are also affected by the condition of Brooks Hall. “The lecture rooms in Brooks are dated, and they make it difficult for us to use some of the modern techniques of teaching, such as group work," Assistant Professor of Biology Stephen Juris said. "The three big lecture halls are set up with stadium seating, which isn’t very conducive to group work." Gehring said he will be able to use the new biosciences building with more confidence in its security while he conducts research. “My work is field research, so teaching space won’t matter that much," Gehring said. "(But), a new building would bring more security to any samples we have and to the equipment." Other professors are excited for new teaching spaces that will allow them to do more hands-on group work. “A collaborative learning space would make it a lot easier to do a lot of things. We would be able to work in small groups or small teams with such a flexible space.  We can do it to some extent in Brooks, but you have to be creative and realize that there are limitations to the rooms we are in,” Juris said. “I think there is a lot of data and research out there that shows teaching needs to be learner-centered and that students need to be in the center of it all. Being able to have interactions with students and having students interact with each other will be a very effective way to covey a lot of material and get students to learn to the best of their ability.”

https://www.cm-life.com/article/2013/03/biology-professors-say-biosciences-building-needed-because-brooks-hall-isnt-very-reliable-for-resear