FACILITIES PLANNING COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
TUESDAY, FEBRURARY 2, 2010
MEMBERS PRESENT: Dr. Stephanie Bellar, Dr. Richard Brown, Dr. Herb Burhenn, Dr.
Richard Casavant, Asst. VC Tom Ellis, Dean Theresa Liedtka, VC Bob Lyon, Dr. Phil Oldham,
Mike Royster (representing Rick Hart), Dr. Jocelyn Sanders, Dr. Mary Tanner
STAFF SUPPORT & GUESTS: Dr. Deborah Arfken, Jim Pulliam, Janet Spraker, Monty
Wilson, Dr. Marcia Noe, Dr. Betsy Alderman
Dr. Brown opened the meeting by asking for approval of the minutes from September 24, 2009.
Dr. Tanner moved to approve and Dean Liedtka seconded. Motion carried.
UPDATES FROM LAST MEETING:
Blue Cross Pine Street Building: Dr. Brown stated another buyer was in the mix so UTC may
not pursue it at this time.
Stagmaier Restoration to Housing: Dr. Brown told the committee that Stagmaier is being
seriously considered for housing if the costs are not excessive. University Housing will continue
to explore the feasibility of such a project. There were over 200 students housed in hotels this
year. Ms. Spraker said that two floors of Stagmaier are in use by various departments, including
Military Science and Arts & Sciences, which would have to be relocated elsewhere.
Maclellan Gym space allocation: Dr. Brown told the committee that much of this topic was
going to be addressed at the Executive Staff level. Dr. Oldham stated that the east lobby was
going to be renovated to house a new math teaching lab to be built using ARRA funds. The
Maclellan lobby space was the only feasible option for this new academic use.
Doctors Building- IT move: Plans are moving forward to retrofit one floor of the Doctors
Building for IT offices. Once completed, IT will vacate the Admin Building and Human
Resources will move into their current space. Dr. Tanner asked if IT staff will be moving out of
the Hunter office suite. Mr. Wilson said that those functions will have to remain there to operate
the Computer Center.
Fletcher Financial Center: Dr. Casavant said that current classrooms 317 and 321 are
proposed for the construction of a finance lab. The previous design for a comprehensive
“Financial Center” on the 2nd floor has been tabled for the time being. A motion was made to
approve the conversion of rooms 317 & 321 into one larger space for a “trading lab”. Motion
carried.
Classroom Capacity changes: Mr. Pulliam reminded members of the requirement to meet fire
code occupancy counts of no more than 20 square feet per station for general classrooms. This
has been a major undertaking and Mr. Pulliam commented that the Records Office has been great
to work with in this effort. Ms. Spraker said that tablet arm desks will allow for more capacity
than round or rectangular table and chair arrangements. Dr. Brown asked Mr. Pulliam to look
into rooms with table & chair furnishings that could be replaced with tablet desks. Dr. Brown
said that he plans to make classroom capacity issues a major focus of the upcoming Campus
Master Plan process.
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SPACE REQUESTS/PROPOSALS:
Bretske Hall – Women’s Studies: Dr. Marcia Noe presented a proposal to relocate the
Women’s Studies program to Bretske once Geology moves into Grote. She said the program has
outgrown the current space in Holt. She would propose to use the Bretske space for offices, a
conference room, a resource center, social space, and teaching space. Discussion followed as to
the need to assign this much space to one program. Dr. Burhenn noted that he would propose to
relocate faculty that teach in this program from Holt, opening up much needed offices. Dr.
Oldham said he would prefer to keep the current wet lab as-is for possible research space. The
general opinion of the group was to leave the classrooms as general purpose, and scheduled by
the Records Office. Ms. Spraker noted that the only restrooms are very small and located on the
lower level, with no accessibility. Mr. Ellis said that this building is #2 on the campus list for
capital maintenance funding, so a renovation project could be funded as soon as summer 2011.
Dr. Brown asked Ms. Spraker & Mr. Ellis to work with Dean Burhenn to finalize the proposed
temporary use for the building, leaving the classrooms for general use.
Metro Building – Dr. Tanner would like to move the Occupational Therapy offices from
Davenport to Metro in offices recently vacated by Nursing (Rooms 308, 314, 315, 320 and 321).
This will allow for construction of a new classroom lab for Physical Therapy in Davenport
(Rooms 221, 223 and 224). She further requested the assignment of Metro rooms 319, 322-324,
304, 306, 307, 309-311 for School of Nursing grant programs and faculty. Rooms 204, 206, 207
and 212 would remain for general classroom use, with 205 a computer testing lab. She would
like to retain 116 as storage for Nursing. Mr. Ellis reminded the group that the renovation of this
side of Metro is expected to be funded in July 2010. This means that construction could start by
fall of 2011, so any space assignment should be considered temporary. Dr. Tanner said she
understood this was possible, but still needed the space now. Dean Liedtka moved to approve,
seconded by Dean Burhenn. Motion carried.
Metro Annex – Dr. Alderman told the committee that the Communications Department and
Continuing Education have reorganized the operation of the UTC Television Studio. Primary
operation will be managed by Communications with Continuing Education in a support role.
The space associated with the TV Studio in Metro Annex would be re-assigned to them.
Continuing Education would retain 223 and 225.
Guerry Center – Dr. Burhenn said that he has toured the space to be vacated by Admissions
with Economics, Art and UHON department heads. He proposes to assign Rooms 203-205 to
UHON and Rooms 206-212 to the Art Department for Drawing & Painting classrooms now
temporarily located in the University Center. Rooms 303 and 304 would be assigned to Public
Administration/Non-profit Management for faculty now located in Davenport, and Suite 302 to
Economics for faculty offices. A motion was made to approve his request and seconded.
Motion carried.
Dr. Delaney asked how the UC Admissions project is progressing. Ms. Spraker said that they
expect fire marshal occupancy approval in March. The project to build out the 2nd floor space for
Financial Aid is being bid with a tentative completion in the fall.
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Stagmaier – Military Science has requested Suites 7 & 8 to serve their program growth. These
rooms are currently used for other departmental storage that would have to be relocated to rooms
on upper floors of Stagmaier. The committee discussed the fact that this may be a short term
assignment if Stagmaier is restored as student housing. A motion was made to approve this
request on a temporary basis and seconded. Motion carried.
FUTURE PLANNING TOPICS:
The committee will be discussing use of the Collins Street Annex once Chemistry moves out.
Mr. Ellis said that no permanent assignments should be made for these buildings as they will be
needed for project surge space. Dr. Oldham said that he will propose to house the faculty for the
“U-Teach” grant in the near term, but agreed that this space should not be permanently assigned.
Future space assignments for Hooper and Race Halls will be discussed once Financial Aid moves
to the UC and Human Resources moves to the Admin building. Other proposals such as
relocating the Office for Students with Disabilities to the UC once the new library is complete
will also be brought forth.
Dr. Brown updated the group on plans for an “all-you-can-eat” food service operation in Campus
Crossroads. He said that UTC’s current food service capacity is not what it should be for our
enrollment. The proposed renovation will be financed by the food service vendor.
Meeting adjourned.
Submitted by:
Valerah Hodges, Recording Secretary
Janet Spraker, Staff Support
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