Angelina WagnerWork continues on the SET building as it prepares for its scheduled completion date of winter 2005. The structure however, won’t be available for use until the fall of 2005. The science department will begin occupying SET during the summer of 2005 due to the packing and moving of science equipment making it impossible to move in earlier.
EYP and Turner Construction have worked with the science department faculty in the planning of the SET building. Dr. Sheryl Fuller-Espie, associate professor of biology, “It looks like everything is on schedule. Everything is falling into place and we couldn’t be more satisfied.”
SET is one of the priorities of a capital campaign. Besides receiving a number of grants from foundations, Cabrini has obtained some aid from the state and federal governments to fund both laboratory equipment and technology for the building.
The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) grant in the amount of $260,000 was awarded to Cabrini. A list of the other grants obtained thus far can be found at http://www.cabrini.edu/science/Grants/grants.htm.
Cabrini also is financing the construction with money from a bond issue. Both the president and Office of Institutional Advancement continue to be actively engaged in fundraising for the SET building.
From the outside, students can see major improvement made since SET’s groundbreaking. Mike Caranfa, director of construction and renovation, said, “The building is progressing as planned.” While carpenters continue work on SET, painters will begin to paint the building’s interior.
One minor change to the SET building is the result of new advances in smart board technology. It was approved to update the 62-seat lecture hall design. Fuller-Espie said, “We have upgraded to a “Sympodium” instead of the standard smart board and we have redesigned the podium so that the touch panel will be more user friendly and incorporate all of the bells and whistles in the lecture hall.”
While the school awaits the opening of the SET building, the Biotechnology Advisory Board has been working to secure a tenant for the affiliated 3000 square foot space in the SET building that will make a good fit with the biotechnology program. “We want the tenant to be involved in the biotechnology program by providing opportunities for internships for our students, and by agreeing to lecture in some of our courses about their areas of expertise,” Fuller-Espie said.
The idea behind having a tenant is the expectation that the person would use Cabrini’s space to develop a biotechnology product before moving to a larger research area. The hope would be then a new tenant would reside in the space and keep the rotation revolving around the individual’s needs and successes.
Dr. Jonnie Guerra, vice-president for academic affairs, said, “Once the science department has vacated offices and laboratory spaces, the college will begin planning to develop the space as a dedicated area for the social sciences-psychology, sociology, and social work.” Space allotted for the social sciences will be used for faculty offices and special classroom spaces.
“We are excited that the building is moving towards completion and that, by fall 2005, students and faculty will have complete access to its state-of-the-art facilities. I find it enormously gratifying to watch the building’s progress and to see its character emerge,” Guerra said.
Posted to the web by Angelina Wagner
