“I think the building is going to be, in many ways, a model for how science education will be done in the future,” says Robert E. Johnston, director of facilities and operations for the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA).

The USB, completed in December 2005, occupies 141,517 sf. The four-story, L-shaped building is part of a larger initiative begun by the University in 1999. The goal is to diversify the state’s economic dependence on the automotive industry by investing in the life sciences.

The USB’s management is unique within the University structure. The building was funded by the Provost’s Office and it maintains control over the USB. The College of Literature, Science and the Arts was chosen as the manager for the USB because, as the largest college within the University, it has the most experience operating undergraduate teaching buildings, Johnston says. All basic science classes are taught within the LSA College.

The USB was designed to support more than LSA classes. It also allows for prototyping of new classes for almost any academic discipline. A special committee, comprised of six faculty members from across the University, determines schedules and space assignments. The unique management structure means decisions take longer, Johnston says, but has an upside.

“It forces us to talk out people’s differing opinions and come up with decisions that serve the greater good of the University, not just one particular school or college. The faculty committee is a key part of making the building a cross-campus resource.”

The USB is part of the University of Michigan’s Life Science Complex, four buildings designed to serve as a bridge, both literally and figuratively, to other parts of the campus. The complex and a pedestrian bridge connect UM’s central campus (home to the basic sciences) and medical school/hospital campus. Figuratively, the University hopes that getting undergraduates into the complex will help them make the connection between science concepts and realities.

“We wanted to have a place where undergrads could have cutting-edge science teaching to help make this bridge,” Johnston explains.

The USB cost $61 million to build and another $3.5 million to outfit. The latter costs are ones that “unless you think about, can surprise you,” Johnston warns. Signage, furniture delivery, and moving are among the second-tier costs. UM developed the USB budget three years in advance but allowed for flexibility so funds could be reallocated as needs changed, Johnston says.

The building took about five years from concept to completion; it took another 18 months to get the USB fully up and running. This gradual transition gave faculty and staff time to learn the new technology. Employing technology experts who worked well with people was crucial.

“The real key is to have enough IT and AV support folks to get people excited about the technology and then get people comfortable with it. You can’t just throw people in and say ‘good luck’,” Johnston says. “We picked people who have the social skills to work with faculty and those who might not have the same technical skills.”

Flexibility a Key Factor

The USB contains four floors of varying classroom designs. There are traditional and U-shaped classrooms; classrooms with raised floors and flat floors; wet labs and dry labs; shared classroom space; and a mixture of seating types. All teaching spaces have state-of-the-art projectors and the whole building is outfitted with wireless technology.

“People have different teaching styles and classes lend themselves to different styles. If we can provide a mix of those environments I think we get a richer result,” Johnston says.

The structure itself is designed in an L shape due to the available layout; the building sits on top of a parking structure.

“We needed to increase parking on campus, and it was an opportunity to double the use of the land,” Johnston explains.

Using the parking structure as the foundation presented several logistical challenges. Numerous steel cables were embedded in the top deck of the parking structure. At various times, construction had to be stopped and the cables tightened to adjust the parking deck structure to the ever increasing building weight. Lab research wasn’t planned to be conducted inside USB because of vibration.

Security was also an issue, since the elevators traverse the building and end in the parking garage. Securing the building at night proved challenging. UM’s solution was allowing night access from two elevators in the parking area to the first floor only. People with key cards can then access the building and the upper floors at another set of elevators.

The USB’s first floor (plaza level) contains program space for the Undergraduate Research Opportunity program, where undergrads experience the research lab environment; the Women in Science and Engineering program, which seeks to increase participation of under-represented groups like women in the science fields; and the Program in the Environment, an undergrad teaching partnership between LSA and the School of Natural Resources and the Environment.

The first floor also houses two “dinner-theater” classrooms designed for collaborative learning, one seating 80 and the other 100. The rooms contain semi-circular tables that can be equipped with tablet PCs. Three large projector screens, one on each end and the other in the center of the rooms, allow for both smaller work groups and larger group instruction. Everything from science to history classes are held there, Johnston says.

“They’re fascinating rooms and it’s interesting to see people teach in them,” he adds.

The dinner-theater classrooms didn’t end up the way they were conceptualized, though.  Originally, the tables were designed for two computers in each table and each room had two projector screens. Four years later, faculty wanted portable technology vice computers built into the tables instead. An extra center mounted projector and screen were added for single source content. It has turned out that the original two side screens are often used to mirror the same content because the wide, shallow layout of the room can make viewing angles problematic for students on the sides of the room.

This situation again pointed to the need for flexibility.

“You need to build in flexibility when outfitting the building,” Johnston says. “It’s not only experimental for the faculty teaching, it’s experimental for how we support and design things.”

The second floor has six shared studio labs: two chemistry labs, two wet biology labs, and two labs for physics or dry biology. Studio labs are designed to be used by many different disciplines and are equipped for lecture and lab in the same space.

“These are rooms where someone can come in and experiment with—prototype—a course,” explains Johnston. Individual faculty can use the space only for two to five years, so UM is working out how the courses can become part of the curriculum outside the USB. “That’s a challenge, because faculty don’t want to design a course for a specific facility and then be able to use it only for a few years.”

Floor two also houses the Science Learning Center, within which are two large rooms and three small meeting rooms ideal for study groups and faculty/student meetings. Two PC and one MAC classrooms are situated on the second floor. The computer rooms were to have rotating class schedules, but due to construction elsewhere on campus, two of the rooms are currently designated for the Department of Communication Studies.

USB’s third floor contains the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology’s teaching labs and the top of the 128-seat auditorium. The floor’s greenhouse provides plants to support the teaching labs.

The fourth floor houses a vivarium, which provides animals and support for teaching labs in other areas of the building. Classrooms and teaching labs for the Neuroscience Graduate Program plus the building’s mechanicals complete the space.

Lessons Learned

Johnston says the moving-in process went smoothly, but UM should have had its activation coordinator and facility manager on site earlier, at least one year prior to construction completion.

“You need some folks whose job is to get the building outfitted and move people into it. The best way to learn is to watch the building being finished.”

Getting a few “early adopters” into the USB, who were eager to use the new technology, helped others embrace the building, Johnston says.

“As people see other people teaching in the space and talk to other faculty—people who are excited by the challenge—they get interested.”

UM learned that it’s important to talk to faculty not only when classrooms are being designed, but also when final decisions on outfitting are made, Johnston says, since changes in faculty and university makeup affect choices. Wait as long as possible to purchase equipment, and as long as the design includes plenty of wiring and allows for flexibility, changes won’t be costly. Cutting-edge technology does come with a price. The USB’s annual budget is about $1.6 million for utilities and plant operations. USB staffing costs are about $400,000 and annualized replacement cost of the equipment will be about $680,000 a year.

In the 18 months since its opening, the USB has already attracted the attention of other college and university planners, the media, and science professionals, Johnston says. The full impact of this cutting-edge facility has yet to be realized.

“I think it’s moving in the right direction. It has succeeded in bringing undergrads onto this bridge,” says Johnston. “We don’t have all the answers; we’re still learning how to use it. We won’t really know the impact for a few years.”

By Taitia Shelow

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