Classroom upgrades in six buildings on the Pullman campus recently were completed – and rooms in three other buildings will be upgraded – all in time for consideration in scheduling fall 2013 classes.
Fall 2011 and 2012 enrollment increases have meant fuller classrooms, but many rooms of all sizes remain available campuswide for the 8 a.m., noon and 3 and 4 p.m. time periods. (See chart of room utilization by time period, above). The Pullman campus classroom map shows how many classrooms are available in each building and where those buildings are located. For more information about classroom inventory, see the Academic Media Services website.
The six buildings with recently upgraded classrooms are:
- Fulmer Hall: Room 201 (seats 117), Room 125 (seats 83), Room 150 (seats 47)
- Bryan Hall: Room 305 (seats 128) and Room 324 (seats 49)
- Physical Education Building (PEB): Room 136 (seats 130)
- Smith CUE: 18 classrooms of various sizes – teaching equipment upgrades
- Wegner Hall: Room G50 – minor remodel to expand seating capacity to 154
- Bustad Hall: Room 145 – installed teleconferencing equipment (seats 120)
The three buildings scheduled for equipment installation and upgrades next summer are:
- Cleveland Hall: Room 30E (seats 129) and Room 30W (seats 120)
- Johnson Hall: Room C107 (seats 211) and Room C105 (seats 76)
- Carpenter Hall: Room 101 (seats 55)
State decision-makers continue to be interested in space use as it relates to university capital budget requests and state priorities. Recent enrollment increases have brought WSU Pullman closer to meeting the state target for classroom space utilization.
The target is to have classrooms 2/3 full 33 hours per week on average. However, as course sections shrink and expand with budgetary changes and as classroom teaching methods evolve, having enough of the right-sized classrooms is the real balancing goal – and somewhat of a moving target. The WSU Provost’s General University Classroom Committee members make decisions about how to equip and provide the right number and the right mix of sizes of classrooms with available resources. The 15-member group (including faculty and student representation) develops short- and long-range plans for upgrading general use Pullman classrooms. Upgrades include instructional technology and, when needed, physical improvements in seating, painting, lighting and acoustics. Committee members track room usage and, in light of the recent increases in campus enrollments, they are closely monitoring space availability.
Faculty reminded to use lecture-capture technology
The use of general university classrooms is not limited to one college or discipline, even if one college is the predominant occupant of the building. In general, schedulers focus assignment of classrooms based on matching course section sizes with like-sized rooms containing appropriate equipment. Faculty reminded to use lecture-capture technology Among the technology tools available in WSU general university classrooms is a lecture capture system called Tegrity. It lets faculty automatically record lectures and make them available to students enrolled in the course. The system is installed in all classrooms that have a resident computer. It also can be used in general university and departmental classrooms using a laptop. In addition, faculty can use Tegrity anytime and anywhere to capture lecture content or supplemental course material. Faculty can log in and access their lecture capture account at http://wsu.tegrity.com.