If you're tired of sweating for hours in a crowded Metcalf Auditorium lecture during a long, warm afternoon, you're not alone.
Lack of well-functioning heating, cooling and ventilation systems topped the list of complaints, and Metcalf Auditorium was repeatedly mentioned as one of the worst classrooms on campus, in a student survey conducted over the summer by a University committee aimed at assessing the quality of University classrooms.
A report with recommendations to improve classrooms on campus, complete with a budget recommendation, will likely be given to senior administrators within a month, said Associate Provost Pamela O'Neil, the head of the University's classroom task force.
"We have enough support from the upper administration that we'll be able to move fairly quickly," she said.
According to O'Neil, any improvements would be made over winter or summer break, when students and faculty are not using the rooms.
Though the committee has not yet come to a consensus on the budget for the recommendations, the cost of the renovations will likely be in the millions, O'Neil said.
In April, Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 appointed the classroom task force to improve the University's classrooms, starting by collecting feedback from both students and faculty.
The task force remains a high priority for the University. O'Neil mentioned support from President Ruth Simmons for the effort, and Kertzer commented on the progress of the committee at a Sept. 5 faculty meeting.
"We're going to be forming a fairly ambitious plan for quickening the pace of our classroom initiative," he said at that meeting.
The committee of 11 includes O'Neil, Dean of the College
Katherine Bergeron and representatives from other offices, including Facilities Management and the Registrar's Office. A student representative, Tan Nguyen '10, was also invited to one of the meetings, which were held almost weekly during the summer.
The committee's recommendations will be based on suggestions from various members and the results of the online survey sent to undergraduate students by Bergeron in July. A total of 474 undergraduates responded. Faculty members took part in a similar survey, which 211 answered.
The survey results identified several large classrooms as some of the worst on campus, including Carmichael Auditorium in Hunter Laboratory, Foxboro Auditorium in Kassar House and Rooms 166 and 168 in Barus and Holley.
According to the survey results, students said the top four problems in classrooms were poor heating, cooling and ventilation systems, a lack of flexible seating, a lack of work space and poor lighting.
Faculty members, however, were more concerned with the technological aspects of classrooms. While faculty respondents mentioned the problems top on students' lists, they also noted poorly functioning audio-visual equipment and a lack of installed equipment as major issues.
Those results surprised some - at the Sept. 5 faculty meeting, Kertzer mentioned that the committee expected more students to complain about technology issues.
Andy Garin '09, who did not take the survey, said classroom comfort was a significant concern.
"Making rooms easier to work in is more important than technology, to an extent," he said. "Things like heating are more important for a good learning environment."
The committee is especially eager to address the technology concerns and other classroom-related concerns because of faculty complaints. The task force aims to eventually have all classrooms up-to-date with functional projectors for presentations and movies, O'Neil said.
She also mentioned the possible implementation of interactive white boards from SMART Technologies Inc., which allow users to control computer applications directly from the whiteboard's display.
"We don't think the students' survey results make technology less of a priority. Instead, we're going to hold both technology and environment issues as high priorities," O'Neil said.
The committee has also talked extensively about increasing the number of classrooms on campus in order to better accommodate classes.
"We need a variety of rooms to meet the needs of all the different classes. An increase of smaller classes brings up a need for smaller classrooms," said University Registrar Michael Pesta.
According to O'Neil, renovations to the J. Walter Wilson building and the future construction of the Creative Arts Center will help provide more classroom space.
Major work - including improvements to the heating, cooling and ventilation systems in some classrooms and the installation of new furniture - will probably take place next summer, said O'Neil. Smaller changes, such as re-carpeting and wall-painting, may begin over next year's winter break, she said.
