Most of the Kent Campus Buildings in Good Condition, but a Handful Need Attention

POSTED: Sep. 28, 2017

The master planning team completed a comprehensive understanding of the function and condition of buildings. Building were assessed through three lenses:

Facility conditions: The functionality of physical building systems.
Academic utilization: How well the building’s classrooms and teaching labs are scheduled.
Educational Adequacy: How well the building’s classrooms and teaching labs are outfitted for modern instruction.

Relative to other public universities, KSU’s facilities are well-maintained are in good condition. The Old Art Building, MACC Annex, and Nixson Hall need investment in building systems.

KSU is sending many students through the two its poorest buildings – Old Art Building and the MACC Annex. Williams and Cunningham Halls were not fully renovated with Foundations of Excellence.

When considering the combination of facility conditions, academic utilization, and educational adequacy, the master plan analysis suggests several facilities be prioritized for investment.

Old Art Building - either renovate for a new use or demolish
MACC Annex – improve building systems and invest in teaching spaces
White Hall – renovate to improve effectiveness of teaching spaces
Nixson Hall – improve building systems and invest in teaching spaces
Glauser School of Music – improve condition of practice and rehearsal spaces
Henderson Hall – address facility system issues while providing additional lab spaces
Rockwell Hall – renovate to improve effectiveness of teaching spaces
Bowman Hall and Satterfield Hall – improvements in teaching spaces would impact a great number of students

How can strategic investments in these buildings have the greatest impact on campus?

Comments

"The Glauser School of Music"

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 09/28/2017 - 8:52pm

Anonymous: The Glauser School of Music also needs repaired stair coating for safety considerations and disability accessible restrooms, including accessible-friendly doors and restroom stalls, near the Recital Hall performance space that is open to patrons, students, staff, and faculty for inclusion of those with disability and support of patrons. The only elevator is a dock elevator that has, at times, been inoperable.

"The new Integrated Science"

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 10/06/2017 - 8:51pm

Pamela Viers: The new Integrated Science Building is impressive, but as visitors to the grand opening observed as they stepped into Williams Hall second and third floor, "Wow, they sure haven't done anything here!" The offices and stockrooms are rather dowdy, filled with scrounged furniture from the "surplus" site and "make do" solutions to problems, the halls are scuffed and the old bathrooms have drips up the walls from hand washing and mops. There is no place to eat lunch and there are no amenities! The loading dock area has rusted out threshholds and the elevator is nasty, and many times unreliable.

"Summer Canter: Based on this"

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 10/06/2017 - 11:39am

Summer Canter: Based on this graphic, it looks like the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music is in the Evaluate to Maintain area, and it is listed above as just to "improve the condition". I have been a student here for 6 years, and also work as a student employee, and this building needs much, much more than just "Improving condition". It needs Major Repair and Renovation! This entire summer for the Kent/Blossom Music Festival, which is partnered with The Cleveland Orchestra and has some of the best musicians from around the world participate in, we couldn't have operated HVAC. (continued ..)

"It felt like almost everyday"

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 10/06/2017 - 11:39am

Summer Canter (continued ...) It felt like almost everyday we were calling in to put in a work order just to have the rooms cooled down even to 75/80 degrees because the thermometers in the rooms were reading over 90 everyday. Our bathrooms flood (and have been featured on FailArmy on Facebook), the recital hall is barely handicap accessible, and we are lucky to get the floors cleaned once a semester. Usually, the student service groups end up cleaning the floors (mopping and sweeping) more than anyone. Between Music, Theatre, and Dance there is absolutely no storage spaces in the building, and the departments have to constantly go to facilities and look at old outdated blueprints just to see who has "rights" to rooms so that one department or another can use it for storage. There is no "maintaining" something that is already in bad condition and breaking. If the building's only complaint was that there are no student lounges, no amenities, no places to sit and eat lunch, old hand-me-down furniture from other departments (which is all 100% true with this building), then sure, label it as maintain. But there are so many huge problems that are just incredibly frustrating to both students and faculty. Honestly, I feel like Kent State is lucky they have such amazing music faculty who decide to stay here because they are the reason students come here/stay.

"Rockwell is the first thing"

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/01/2018 - 10:12am

Sarah Cahn: Rockwell is the first thing that popped into my head while reading this. The lecture hall is truly structured for a fashion show, not a class. The runway is essential and well utilized, but desks are a necessity in an academic setting. Every semester I had at least one class in this room. Notetaking by hand was not ideal and using a clipboard to take exams can be tricky. People brought laptops to take notes but clearly distracted many students. The Fashion School does a great job of fostering an engaging academic environment - the lecture hall should support it!

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