Physical Environments

Iowa State University uses multiple physical environments to enhance learning and support success. This section describes the use of resources to improve student learning, including classroom, lab, and auditorium space; other learning spaces; the student union; and residential living. While it is clear that the physical spaces provide important facilities that facilitate learning, this section highlights the efforts of faculty and staff to maximize the benefits of these resources in support of the institutional mission.

The University’s space has changed significantly since the 1996 NCA Accreditation Review; new space has been added and significant existing space has been renovated. The major categories of space in Gross Square Feet (GSF) are shown for the 2004-05 fiscal year:

Total University space has increased by approximately 1.7 million GSF since 1996. More than 1.1 million GSF were added in the Academic/Administrative category, and nearly 500,000 GSF were added to the Residence System.

The Net Assignable Square Feet (NASF) available for academic/administrative use is 4,775,705. The table below illustrates the distribution of total NASF by unit, by function and by room type:

The table by type of space shows that two categories are specifically devoted to regularly scheduled instruction–classrooms and teaching labs.

There are 233 classrooms ranging in seating capacity from 13 to 559, located in 38 buildings. These rooms are centrally scheduled to meet the needs of all of the University’s programs. Departments and the Registrar establish the course offering and class schedules, and Room Scheduling allocates room assignments to meet these requests. The time, capacity, location, and technology preferences of departments are considered in finding the best match of needs among the available classroom resources. The Room Scheduling website is a comprehensive source of information about classrooms including:

• Scheduling policies
• Classroom inventory, with description, photo and panoramic views, available technology and capacity
• Course and special event scheduling
• Media Technology Link
• Campus maps
• Building locking schedules
• Web-based room request forms for Student Organizations and Departments

The Instructional Technology Center works with Room Scheduling to provide technology support in the University’s general classrooms. The recent addition to the Communications Building has allowed the ITC to be housed in one location for the first time ever, providing more efficient and effective services. The ITC webpage is available to users of classrooms with technology specifications and inventory. Classroom utilization reports have been discontinued as a result of budget-related staffing changes, but examples of past reports are available.

Although there is a trend towards larger section sizes, utilization of classrooms has probably not changed significantly since the previous (i.e., 1999, 2000) reports. The long-term trends illustrated in the following charts represent peak and valley leveling as a result of using classrooms and laboratories more steadily throughout the day and week. The chart shows the current increased use of classroom and lab space compared to 1960, the earliest date for which records are available.

New space acquired in the addition to the College of Design, the Gerdin Business Building, Hoover Hall, Howe Hall, and the Kildee Hall addition resulted in 20 new classrooms and three large auditoriums. These classrooms are important to the departments in these new buildings but they are equally important to all departments because they provide additional opportunities to use new state-of-the-art instructional spaces.

Reallocation of space in the Residence Halls has provided six new computer classrooms. These serve as additional support for classroom instruction in the day and are used as open computer labs in the evenings and weekends by residents.

Remodeling of the University’s classrooms is constant. The classroom and auditorium inventory is very heavily used both for regularly scheduled classes and special event activities in the evenings and weekends. Some rooms are simply worn out by extensive use. The competition and conflict to use the best rooms may be minimized as more and more rooms are improved. Rooms are taken out of service, typically during the summer, to provide enhancements and/or improvements such as new seating, new or replacement technology, better lighting and lighting controls, and window treatments. The number of classrooms that may be improved is a function of the budget available to support the projects.

The recent $14 million bonding resolution is the biggest boost to classroom and auditorium renovation in the institution’s history. This funding was spread over three years–FY03, FY04, and FY05. Projects completed as a result of this funding include:

• Replacement of the LeBaron Auditorium with a 363-seat facility featuring specially designed flexible seating in alternate rows to allow small group interaction within a large lecture setting

• Complete reconstruction of two physics rooms to meet multiple uses, including demonstrations and small group interaction

• Numerous remodeling and improvement projects in about 140 existing classrooms where such things as technology installations/upgrades, seating replacement, lighting upgrades and general aesthetic enhancements will impact student learning

With these funds, many substandard rooms have been improved enough to become the preferred locations for classes whose instructors want to use multi-media learning techniques but could not due to the lack of technology-supported spaces.

University classrooms are extensively used for special events. There are approximately 5,000 individually scheduled activities using classrooms in a typical semester. The events include all of the following: help and tutoring sessions, oral exams, night exams, student organization meetings, faculty meetings, colloquia, seminars, or visiting organization meetings. When student classes have been scheduled and finalized, the classrooms are opened to these kinds of activities. These out-of-class experiences are an important part of the learning environment.

Teaching labs are another kind of space that directly supports learning. The University’s mission of supporting science and technology programs requires a large inventory of specialized facilities to provide students with hands-on experience. There are more than 500 departmental laboratories. A few of these labs are very small and provide access to highly specialized equipment. Most, however, serve classes of 20-25 and have multiple workstations supported by centralized equipment. These facilities are allocated to departments, which are responsible for operating, maintaining, and scheduling them.

New buildings have provided additional and much improved laboratories for the occupants of Howe Hall, Hoover Hall, the Kildee Addition and the Gerdin Business Building. Each of these buildings has extensive laboratories dedicated to scheduled classes. In addition, the enhanced research laboratories are often scheduled for classes in which students use highly specialized equipment that was not previously available because the original lab space was too small to accommodate the equipment.

The classroom technology available to faculty has greatly improved since 1999 when faculty could expect to find an overhead projector, screen, and chalkboard in all but 22 of the University’s general classrooms. Today, almost 60% (136) of the University’s 233 central classrooms have been upgraded with multi-media equipment and projection systems, primarily through the impetus of a 2002 capital improvement appropriation from the State of Iowa. Seventeen more classrooms will be added to this list in 2006. In addition, 140 department-operated spaces (seminar rooms, laboratories) have been remodeled and equipped with the same technologies.

The 136 centrally operated multimedia classrooms are designed to allow seamless plug-in of faculty-provided laptops, as well as the use of DVD/video playback and remote push-button controls for the instructor. Larger classrooms include a sound system, wireless microphone, and digital document camera. A complete list of media enhanced classrooms and their capabilities is maintained for reference. The campus cable plant is currently being upgraded to state-of-the-industry high-speed computing. This, coupled with the rapid growth of wireless nodes accessible in classrooms, provides immediate, advanced computing to faculty and the students in the classroom. Information Technology Services maintains a list of network upgrades and wireless infrastructure on campus.

Instructional technology innovations in the near future include live streaming video and IP videoconferencing directly from classrooms, as well as the installation of individual student response systems. The keys to making all instructional innovations work are the University’s commitment to classroom remodeling and upgrades, the further development of an already excellent campus network, the availability of instructional development and faculty support, and the faculty’s commitment to facilitating learning.

• Continue to make improvements to the remaining general university classrooms. To remain on the cutting edge, it is important to have technology available to meet the needs of our faculty, staff and students.

• Resources are needed to continue to support what we already have available in the classrooms. If these resources are not secured, these spaces will become outdated, worn, and useless to the faculty, staff, and students.

• It is important to continue finding ways to meet instructional needs and learning styles by: (1) replacing fixed seating with moveable furniture, using tables and chairs when possible to reflect our better understanding of the diversity of learning styles of our students and effective teaching practices of our faculty and staff; (2) moving forward with wireless technology in all classrooms; and (3) staying on the cutting edge of media technology with equipment upgrades

The Iowa State Library is the core of the University community of learners and a critical network of physical and virtual learning spaces. Additional description of this learning resource is elsewhere in this self-study.

The Academic Success Center is a collection of services and programs, all in one location, designed to help students reach their academic goals. It includes an academic learning lab, resources for learning disabilities, tutoring and other services.

One example of a center that supports faculty development of instructional materials is the LAS Center for On-Line Learning (COLL). The mission of COLL is to integrate scholarship with support for the development, use, and evaluation of on-line instructional materials. The purposes are to: 1) support the development and use of on-line instructional materials; 2) foster and support scholarship and research about on-line instruction; 3) provide a centralized clearinghouse for developmental, pedagogical, and assessment resources related to on-line instruction; 4) coordinate discussions of on-line instruction among LAS educators; and 5) advise the LAS college about administrative issues related to distance education and on-line instruction.

Teaching farms play an integral role in the College of Agriculture’s learning process. In the last 10 years, as Iowa agriculture has industrialized and farms have grown larger, students have increasingly limited experiences with livestock, crops, agricultural equipment, and agricultural management. Consequently, they rely more on University farms for their learning experience. The teaching, research, and demonstration farms play a critical role for meaningful experiential learning activities. Farms also provide internships, student employment, and settings for student club and extracurricular activities. Major users of farms in undergraduate teaching are animal science, agricultural education, agricultural studies, horticulture, and agricultural systems technology. For agricultural graduate students, the farms are laboratories that provide facilities, equipment, livestock, plot land, crops, soil, manure, and support for a wide array of research projects.

An example of such a farm is the AG450 Farm, the nation’s oldest, continuously operating student-managed farm. The farm is named for the AgEdS 450 class, a senior-level capstone course that is fully integrated with the farm. Classroom lectures and discussion continue to emphasize the application of production skills learned in other courses, risk management and risk management strategies, financial management and cash flow, alternative leasing agreements, and problem-solving for strategic issues related to the farm. Approximately 100 students are enrolled each year.

Iowa State also maintains a prairie lab on campus for those interested in ecology and the environment, as a demonstration area and outdoor learning laboratory.

The Memorial Union is committed to providing extended access to unscheduled space that students may use on a drop-in basis for studying, group projects, and study breaks, with ready availability of convenient services. These spaces include the West, Main and Pride Lounges on first floor, the Commons and Browsing Library on ground floor, and many small seating areas throughout the building. Students also use the Recreation Center and Maintenance Shop for study purposes. The M-Shop became a wireless access facility in August 2005 and its daytime hours were extended at the beginning of the fall 2005 semester. “Extended” is defined as open long hours–in some cases, 24 hours. Most of these spaces have wireless access.

Improvement plans include extending wireless access to more spaces, including those meeting rooms that do not now have this service. We have also recently moved the computer lab from second floor to the Browsing Library, greatly extending open hours in the library. Plans also call for additional on-site media equipment (A/V cabinets and data projectors mounted in each meeting room) to support student needs in the building. Study lounge information is available on-line.

Space in the Memorial Union is also devoted to offices for student organizations that are the essential backdrop for leadership training through student government, VEISHEA, and other keys tudent organizations. The Workspace provides studio space for creative work on individual projects, non-credit classes, and opportunities for students to teach leisure activity classes to other students as well as faculty, staff, and community members. Exercise and Sport Science classes in bowling and billiards are taught in the Recreation Center.

Annually, the great majority of users of Memorial Union meeting room spaces are student groups. However, approximately 20% of the usage is by faculty for various departmental purposes, including programs sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. The Memorial Union is the primary venue for Iowa State-sponsored lectures and many career days/fairs. The Memorial Union also employs students in all of its service areas, and often seeks to match the job with student majors to provide hands-on application of concepts learned in the classroom. The Memorial Union hopes to expand these opportunities by formalizing internship or for-credit arrangements. Practicum, internship, and graduate assistant opportunities in event management, building operations, graphic design, and student activities have been available for students interested in building their portfolios of practical applied experience.

The mission of the Iowa State University Department of Residence is to advance the academic mission of the University by providing quality service and promoting living/learning communities that stimulate, enhance, and extend the total learning experience.

During the Past 10 Years

The Master Plan of the Department of Residence has resulted in the renovation of two traditional residence halls (Maple and Buchanan), construction of 2000 beds in single-student apartments (Frederiksen Court), construction of two suite-style residence halls (Eaton and Martin), and a new Union Drive Community Center (dining). Most of the new construction or renovations included multi-purpose space designed for classes and co-curricular activities.

In the past 10 years the department has played a significant role in the development of Iowa State’s nationally recognized learning community program. The department has made a sustained effort to create an academic environment throughout the residence hall system by reorganizing staff and implementing academically focused programming. The Department has developed innovative programming in a number of areas. For example, the Department has developed a living/learning/leading programming model; “neighborhoods– (geographically defined areas for students at different stages of development and education; i.e., first year, transfer and upper-division, age-related, graduate, etc.) to better focus staffing and programs on specific student needs; and “theme housing– focused on leadership and cross-cultural issues.

Status of existing facilities/programs

Department of Residence facilities and programs receive continuous review. Over 87% of students living in the residence halls indicate they are somewhat or very satisfied with their overall experience.

Plans for the future

The Department will continue to support the academic mission of the University and develop partnerships with academic programs whenever possible. This may include the development of a residential college. The learning community committee has discussed the residential college concept, and the idea has currency with some faculty and administrators. Residential colleges can take many shapes, but the general concept is to house a degree-granting college, such as general studies, within the residential college. The residential college facility would house students, classrooms, and faculty offices. We'll continue to train student and professional staff so that they support student academic success. Hall Directors will teach sections of Psych 131, a one-credit academic support course. Residence hall students will be encouraged to register for the Psych 131 section being taught by their Hall Director so that in- and out-of-class learning connections will be more easily facilitated.

Hall Directors reach out to minority students through the assessing minority student program. This program is an effort to enhance the social and academic experiences of minority students living in the residence halls. Using data compiled from the Registrar’s files, residential hall directors engage in one-on-one interactions with minority students living in their residence hall. In addition to strengthening relations between staff members and minority students, the program strives to connect students experiencing academic difficulty to the appropriate campus resources. It also aids staff members in connecting minority students to leadership and social opportunities available on campus and the surrounding community.

Challenges facing the Department of Residence include the following:

• Continuing the academic focus without the academic services unit

• Improving academic connections and student satisfaction with services, amenities, condition of facilities, with reduced resources

• Supporting residential learning community growth, which requires holding more spaces in specific locations (generally the most popular returning student locations) for new students

• Attracting students who want fewer restrictions and more amenities for less cost

In order to respond to these and other challenges (e.g., market pressures from expansion in off-campus housing options), the Department of Residence offers creative solutions (e.g., allowing pets, mixed gender in same unit, pilot furnished apartments for single students), and successfully advocates for common program space (SUV Community Center).