Plans for integrated science facilities progress

The plans for a new integrated science center are nearing completion as the College hopes to break ground for the new and renovated facilities in the summer of 2013.

The current plan proposes a group of buildings that integrate the psychology, biology, chemistry, physics and computer science departments as well as spaces for other programs to use. The current plans, designed by Ennead Architects, calls for the construction of a large "bridge" building for laboratory space over the Fonteynkill between Olmsted Hall and Skinner Hall of Music as well as for renovations of New England Building, Sanders Physics and Olmsted. The renovation of New England and its dedication to the psychology department represents a change in space and cost from earlier iterations of the project, which included a significant, and more expensive, addition onto the back of Sanders Physics. The bridge building itself is slated for LEED Gold certification for its sustainable design.

"Thus far, the science design process has focused on large-scale schematic planning—ideal adjacencies of related spaces, locations of key program elements, and assignments of departments and facilities to particular building areas," wrote Dean of the Faculty Jon Chenette in an e-mailed statement. "During the next phase of planning, known as design development, many detailed aspects of the science facilities layout and design will be determined."

Two departments that will be moving to the Academic Quadrangle for the first time are computer science and psychology. "We are managing to accommodate computer science in the project, something that didn't seem possible at one point in time, which is great because of the close connections between computer science and the other sciences," said Associate Dean of the Faculty and Chair of the Science Facility Planning Committee Marianne Begemann.

Professor of Computer Science and Chair of the department Jennifer Walter added, "It also helps make us a little more visible to students. Just having more students pass through would increase our popularity."

As with other science departments, both Computer Science and Psychology report that they have simply outgrown their current spaces. "I think we grew out of our space here a long time ago," said Professor of Psychology and Chair of the department Randy Cornelius of the space in Blodgett Hall. "We're ready to go."

According to Cornelius the range of work that takes place in psychology, which often overlaps with other departments in and out of the natural sciences, calls for spaces that are both more accommodating and more flexible to the changing nature of research.

"We have a lot of different needs," he said. "We're going to be able to design our laboratories from the walls in."

The end goal of the project also includes the demolition of Mudd Chemistry building in favor of creating more up-to-date lab spaces.

Though it won design awards soon after its establishment in 1984, the practical problems with Mudd are now widely acknowledged. The roof and building envelope leak, partly as a result of an awkward meeting of materials throughout the building. The steel, brick and glass components of the building expand and contract in different temperatures, making the building less than water-tight and difficult to seal. Inside, the ceiling heights are no longer up to current standards, and space for new equipment is rapidly running out.

"Every major system has been run past its normal lifetime," said Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the Chemistry Department Eric Eberhardt. "I really think the project is going to be transformative for student-faculty science research."

In his own research space, Eberhardt pointed to how new equipment is packed into the lab taking up counter space that would otherwise be used for work, and he gestured towards a thin layer of now-dry mud that seeped in with rainwater.

This contrasts greatly with the facilities that will be created in the new building, which will include more than double the square footage of lab space available in Mudd per faculty member, literally giving the program room to explore new areas of research. After considering how the space might be renovated rather than torn down, the College determined that it would cost more to upgrade Mudd than to build new facilities along with renovating other buildings.

According to both Eberhardt and Cornelius, members of the science faculty have been involved in the process of planning for new facilities since it started about six years ago. In that time, the departments have undergone studies of their space needs and met with the architects to share their space requirements and respond to designs. "They've made changes based on what we've said, which is really nice and encouraging," said Walter.

The relocation of psychology does mean the relocation of the multidisciplinary programs currently housed in New England Building to a location that is yet to be determined. The prospect of the move has caused concern among the faculty in the programs, and overall there is agreement among the directors that the programs should remain grouped after they move.

"What's really important from our perspective is to stay together," said Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies and Director of the Media Studies Program Eva Woods Peiró.

There is also a connection that some directors expressed between the programs and New England Building itself. "People know that New England is the Multidisciplinary building," said Peiró. "People identify space with institutionalization."

In addition to staying together, the programs hope that the architectural advantages of New England Building will be replicated in their new location. A memo, which Begemann wrote to Chenette and Dean of Planning and Academic Affairs Rachel Kitzinger on behalf of the multidisciplinary subcommittee of the Committee on Curricular Policy, requests that the programs undergo a "space utilization/programming study" before moving, that they move into a final home rather than swing space as soon as they leave New England, and that the budget for the project include some allowance for the renovation of the programs' new space.

"Over the coming months, we will initiate a planning process for the facilities needs of the multidisciplinary programs," wrote Chenette. "Program directors have articulated clearly that they would like to see the programs currently housed in New England remain together and located centrally on campus. We need to consider a range of options and come up with a plan that preserves as much as possible of the fruitful encounters and collaborations that arise from the current arrangement of the multidisciplinary programs in New England. We can't yet say what that solution will be."

The revision of plans that introduced New England to the project took place over the summer and was necessitated by the estimated costs of the project. While the entire project with the major addition on Sanders Physics was estimated at about $140 million, the prospective cost of the current plan is about $110 million.

The financial burden will be split between donations and future debt that the College plans to take on. According to Vice President for Alumnae/i Affairs and Development Cathy Baer, the College hopes to raise between $40 and $50 million towards the project, and is already at about $25 million. The fundraising efforts for the sciences will be a pillar of the development campaign that will officially launch in Vassar's Sesquicentennial year.

According to Baer, the goal of a 2013 groundbreaking brings both motivation and excitement to the project. "It gives us a sort of urgency in talking to people and that support now is critical to making this a reality," she said.

The cost and scope of the project represent a significant investment in Vassar's science programs that aims to both meet current needs of the science disciplines and to extend the goals of interdepartmental work. Even as the plan for a single, connected complex has shifted to a cluster of buildings, opportunities for collaborative work remain essential to the project.

These ideas have been incorporated through the inclusion of lab space dedicated to the development of new research projects and curricula and through more informal spaces where students and faculty might meet to share ideas. "These spaces will be available not only for intra divisional collaborations but for inter divisional collaborations as well," added Begemann.

Walter, Eberhardt and Cornelius all said that collaborations are already taking place in the science curriculum, and having new facilities will only encourage more of it.

"Many schools would build the building and hope the program would follow," said Baer. "We have that already and need the physical space that really does support it."

Kitzinger emphasized the need for the science facilities for the institution as a whole and not just for a select population of students and faculty. "I think Vassar has a very strong reputation for the arts and for the social sciences, and doing this will bring that reputation more fully into balance," said Kitzinger, and Begemann added that this reputation is perhaps misguided when 25 percent of Vassar students major in the natural sciences, and many more participated in the science curriculum.

"It is a mistake to think of this project as serving the sciences instead of serving the College's liberal arts curriculum," said Kitzinger. "To me what we've achieved and what I hope we continue to achieve is a sense of the whole communities of knowledge and the value of the intellectual life of the College."