UNB classrooms in need of upgrades

Alanah Duffy - News Reporter

January 25, 2012 6:00 AM ADT

Some University of New Brunswick classrooms will be getting facelifts over the next few years.

A teaching and learning committee, consisting of about a dozen UNB staff and faculty, are developing a planning framework to update teaching and learning spaces on campus.

“Over the past two years, we’ve had a desire towards improving the learning environment at UNB,” said Barbara Nicholson, associate vice-president of Capital Planning and Property Development at the university.

“The committee recognized that there are so many needs in our classroom space that ideally, it would be better if we had a planning framework, something that would help guide us as we prioritize upgrades in our classrooms.”

Nicholson said that typical upgrades include new furniture, lighting fixtures, paint colours, and the way the space is arranged.

To help the committee develop a planning framework for classroom upgrades, the committee planned four “world cafés,” wherein students, faculty and staff meet to discuss what they would like to see in a classroom.

Nicholson hoped to get about 40 people present for each session, which took place Tues., Jan. 24 and Wed., Jan. 25.

“The information [from the world cafés] will go into a planning framework, as well as some other information,” Nicholson said. “Out of that, we’ll have a document which will prioritize how to perform with our upgrades.”

Inventory from current classrooms has already been taken, so the committee is aware of what state classrooms are in and how they’re being used.

To help with this initiative, UNB has employed Educational Consulting Services (ECS), a Toronto-based company specializing in campus building and planning strategies.

Nicholson said the cost of employing ECS is approximately $70, 000.

“It ($70, 000) is jointly funded from strategic initiative out of the office of the vice-president academic and out of my office,” she said. “They were allocated funds in this current years budget.”

With regards to classroom upgrades Nicholson said that the cost of upgrading a classroom depends on the size. The university previously updated three large auditorium-style classrooms, located in McLaggan Hall, Head Hall and Tilley Hall, at a cost of one and a half million dollars each.

The budget set aside for upgrades is much less than this amount.

“Historically, I think the faculties had somewhere around probably $400,000,” Nicholson said.

She added that the three classrooms were renovated under the university deferred maintenance program and received provincial funding.

Shirley Cleave, associate vice-president academic, said that this initiative is in the planning stages.

“Obviously, the plan hasn’t been developed yet, but we will be using resources that we typically use to renovate classrooms in the past. More strategically, the money from alternations and renovations will be dedicated to the new planning framework,” Cleave said.

Cleave added that a better estimate of the cost of this project will be looked at after the world cafés have been completed.

“I have no idea,” Cleave said when asked about the cost. “We’re waiting to see what the plan will provide. It will depend a little bit on what’s been done to that classroom and what the classroom looks like.”

Despite the high costs of the teaching and learning initiative, Nicholson said that students shouldn’t see an increase in their ancillary fees.

“That certainly hasn’t been talked about,” Nicholson said.

The classroom renovations are a long-term project and part of UNB’s strategic plan. Cleave estimated that the development plans will take five to ten years to complete.

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