By Angela Alfano
Staff Writer
Photo by Tia-Moná Greene
Several department offices have been moved this semester and other department moves are planned in the near future. Offices including the Honors Program, the English Department, the School of Visual and Performing Arts dean’s office, and the Media Arts Department have all been uprooted from their previous homes.
The Honors Program moved from the second floor of Humanities to the Winnick Mansion toward the end of the fall 2014 semester. Although the move itself happened swiftly, the planning process began in the summer of 2014.
“From the time she came to Post, President Cline said that she envisioned the mansion as the academic center of campus, and raised the prospect of moving Honors into that building,” said Dr. Joan Digby, Director of the Honors Program. “We are extremely happy in these new offices, and the students really like having a seminar room and lounge near the central Honors office. It is the perfect location for an Honors College, which we will inaugurate next fall,” Digby added.
The English Department also experienced a change of location at the end of the fall 2014 semester. Previously also located on the second floor of Humanities, the department can now be found in room 210 of the Winnick Mansion. The move, which began in late November, is still in progress, with the rest of the 36 total English department employees expected to finish within the next few weeks.
Dr. John Lutz, Chairperson of the English department, said that the people who work in Facilities have been nothing but helpful with the move. Although the process was a long one, Lutz said that it has definitely been positive. Some of the classes for the English department have been also moved to Winnick, and rather than having the department take up over 20 offices in Humanities, they are now all in one space, which has proven convenient.
“This is a nice space. This is a nice space for students as well. I think the building is beautiful. It’s a pleasant space to get work done,” Lutz said. “We are thinking of having a few events here, such as a murder mystery for the students.”
Lutz said that he would like to get the students more involved with the new location. There is a lounge on the ground level of Winnick specifically for students to come and spend their free time. “This building has a lot of nooks and areas for students to sit in.”
The office of Dean Noel Zahler of the School of Visual and Performing Arts moved from the first floor of Humanities to Kahn Hall before the spring semester began. Dr. Barbara Fowles, the chairperson of the Media Arts department, is scheduled to move from the basement of Humanities into the SVPA dean’s old office this week.
Two public relations professors from the Media Arts department, Abby Dress and Arlene Peltola, have already moved from the basement of Humanities to the SVPA assistant dean’s old office on the first floor of Humanities.
The moves have proven to be a positive experience for the staff, however students have mixed emotions about the ongoing office moves on campus.
“I had to find one of my professors to hand in an assignment outside of class and I assumed I knew where to find them,” Kaitlin Veygel, a junior Broadcasting major said. “It was a good thing I checked with a classmate before I went because they told me the offices were
moved.”Other students have not been negatively impacted by the moves. “I think these office moves were a good decision on Post’s end. I was looking for someone in the English department that I had never met before, and I heard about some of the moves from one of my professors and was easily able to find them without going too far out of my way, which was obviously convenient,” Jake Speigel, a junior Criminal Justice major said.
Be First to Comment