The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

Education building on schedule

The education building that is currently under construction on UW-Eau Claire’s campus should be completed by November of this year and is set to be operational come the spring semester of 2014.

The building still does not have an official name and is being temporarily called the Education Building. It will house not only education faculty and staff, but different departments as well.

Education Building Committee Chair Gail Scukanec said the new education building will have diverse departments and many different classes will be held in the building.

“The faculty in education will be in the building,” Scukanec said. “The faculty from foreign languages and the faculty from english will be in there as well.”

Story continues below advertisement

Along with academia, the building will also be home to places such as the Multicultural Affairs Office, Math Lab, as well as the Dean’s Office. There will be 22 classrooms in the new academic building, with most being medium to large rooms.

“There are some larger ones, some 100’s, 120’s and even a 140-seat classroom as well,” Scukanec said.

She also said she expects economics, psychology and biology classes may be held in the building, as these classes usually need larger-scale rooms for entry-level courses.

Freshman education major Jordon Stevens said she is looking forward to a new primary building for education, but said he doesn’t see the need for a building strictly for the major.

“I would imagine that this building will be better than the one we have now (Brewer Hall),” Stevens said. “But I don’t know if education majors need a whole building just for themselves at this point.”

With the W.R. Davies Center being environmentally friendly, with solar panels and sustainability features designed to use 30 percent less energy than current codes require, Stevens said he hopes the new building follows suit.

Construction Project Coordinator Chris Hessel said the building will not have certain sustainability features that Davies had because of certain guidelines that are implemented by the state.

“Because of the location of the building, there will be no solar ray panel, no green roof,” Hessel said. “The state has guidelines about how much glass you can have on a building and that is really what it comes down to.”

The new building instead will have a dashboard of energy efficiency that can be put into a number to express how much the building is saving according to current codes on building efficiency.

Campus facilities planner Ricardo Gonzales said this will be an important feature of the new building.

Those constructing the building have taken a low-tech approach instead of a high-tech one, a choice which Gonzales said is meant to save the university money.

“You can make a technological marvel,” Gonzales said. “But it requires so much more money to maintain those parts and to train people.”

 

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

The Spectator intends for this area to be used to foster healthy, thought-provoking discussion. Comments are expected to adhere to our standards and to be respectful and constructive. As such, we do not permit the use of profanity, foul language, personal attacks or the use of language that might be interpreted as libelous. The Spectator does not allow anonymous comments and requires a valid email address. The email address will not be displayed but will be used to confirm your comments.
All The Spectator Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Activate Search
Education building on schedule