Faculty settled into renovated Science building

Renovated facilities at Northeastern State University have given science faculty and staff new teaching opportunities in expanded state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories.

Completion in 2007 of remodeling and new construction at the Science and Health Professions building created new space and addressed some of the aging structure's shortcomings.

The only thing in the exact same place in the renovated old building are the large lecture halls and the restrooms at the west end," said Dr. Craig Clifford, professor of biology.

Clifford has been a part of the NSU family since 1985 and has seen plenty of work and renovation on campus in his years. Work on the Science and Health Professions building began in 2005 and was phased. During the renovation, faculty, staff and students had to meet and work in various places on campus.

We moved into Haskell for offices and taught wherever we could around campus," Clifford said. "I taught in Education and Seminary Hall. At that time the new lab building was finished and we were able to have the labs there.

During the work, the excitement over new facilities overshadowed the inconveniences of the construction.

We were still so excited and in disbelief that all of the great stuff was happening," Clifford said. "The doubling of our space, the tremendous improvement in labs and especially the renovation of the old building.

The new classrooms, lecture halls and labs in the addition gave the faculty an opportunity to inject diversity into classroom settings.

You can't expect either faculty or students to want to work in a place where there is so little attention to the surroundings," Clifford said. "We knew we wanted bigger labs but we really sized them large and are happy we did. We can look around and find a room that will work for all kinds of activities.

In addition to larger labs, new desks and top-notch ventilation and safety features, Clifford said the building's physical appearance was an attractive addition to NSU.

The lobby of the new building is a centerpiece for the entire campus," he said. "There is no other space quite like it.

Although the teaching amenities of the new space are a welcome addition to the Science and Health Professions building, the new temperature of the building is also a popular item.

Air conditioning, Clifford exclaimed. It is so much better than the extreme hot and cold of the old building.