From the 11/15/06 (UC) News Record:

 

 

Teachers renovation through first phase

Completion date unknown

Andrew Welsh

Issue date: 11/15/06 Section: News

 

The $15 million first of three phases of renovation at Teachers College is finished. With an estimated $39 million worth of renovations to go, phase two is scheduled to start at the end of January, 2007.

 

A final completion date has not been set for the project.

 

http://www.newsrecord.org/media/storage/paper693/news/2006/11/15/News/Teachers.Renovation.Through.First.Phase-2459226.shtml?norewrite200612311853&sourcedomain=www.newsrecord.org

 

From UC News, 12/27/06:

 

 

UC’s Teachers College on the Move

A renovation is about to begin on UC’s Teachers College, so over the break, the staff is on the move for a lengthy stay in Edwards One.

Date: 12/27/2006

By: Dawn Fuller

Phone: (513) 556-1823

 

Last fall marked the first time in 15 years that University of Cincinnati students on the West Campus were free of weaving around construction fences. But come winter quarter, the fences are going up again for a massive renovation at Teachers College. The fences started going up on Dec. 18, so pedestrian traffic will no longer be able to move through the breezeway of the college.

 

As a result of the renovation project, a massive migration got underway as much of the faculty and staff for the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) wait out the renovation. Ironically, they’re setting up in the building where UC’s construction fences were first erected in 1991 – the Edwards Center.

 

Nelson Vincent, associate dean for CECH, says the last of the move wrapped up Dec. 18 when 35 staff members, including employees of the Office of the Dean, moved into suite 5150 of Edwards One. The move had 300 CECH faculty, staff and graduate students packing up and moving to Edwards as autumn quarter came to a close. It also meant the college:

 

* Changed 300 locks

* Moved 275 phones

* Moved 475 computers

* Set up three computer labs and one math lab in Edwards One

* Installed five electronic classrooms in Edwards One

 

CECH celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, but the one aspect of the college that was struggling rather than shining with age was the college building that was constructed in the early 1930s. The first phase of renovating the building was completed earlier with 7,000 square feet of classroom and office space, ADA upgrades, a new elevator and HVAC improvements. Phase two of the renovation begins in January as abatement and salvage gets underway. Vincent says construction starts in February on the second phase of renovation, estimated at $17.5 million and paid for by the state. Completion of phase two of the construction project is expected in 2009.

 

Vincent adds that during the last week of their December break, students will receive an electronic postcard reminding them that much of the Teachers College is now located in Edwards One.

 

But despite the construction and the fences, the Teachers College is not entirely closed. CECH’s Divisions of Criminal Justice and Human Services will remain at the Teachers College along with the Office of Research & Development, as will the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences Departments of Psychology and Communication, and the UC Counseling Center.

 

http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.asp?id=4929

 

This bldg is a dump...it is in much need of a renovation!  Good to hear that they are moving forward, even with the finance lock down!!!

From the 1/4/07 (UC) News Record:

 

 

Teachers College moves to Edwards

Edwards to house Teachers

Andrew Welsh

Issue date: 1/4/07 Section: News

 

The green fences on West Campus surrounding Teachers College indicate a new stage of improvements for the University of Cincinnati, but for those working and studying in the building, they also signify a change in venue.

 

www.newsrecord.org/media/storage/paper693/news/2007/01/04/News/Teachers.College.Moves.To.Edwards-2600305.shtml]http://media.www.newsrecord.org/media/storage/paper693/news/2007/01/04/News/Teachers.College.Moves.To.Edwards-2600305.shtml

 

These bldgs are in much need of renovation!  Hopefully these bldgs will turn out as nice as the Swift, Braunstein, and Old Chem bldgs did.

Dark side of progress

The transformation of UC has taken more of a financial toll than many in the campus community realize.

BY DAN MONK & TOM DEMEROPOLIS | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER

June 15, 2007

 

UPTOWN - Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland took a walking tour of the University of Cincinnati in April and praised the intimacy of the school's Main Street complex.

 

"You're so surrounded by students and all these great structures," said Strickland, who had never before seen the campus. "It gives you the sense of being in a community."

For those connected to UC, this isn't news but perhaps a good discussion can get going because many departments are bleeding faculty and academics suffer as a result.

There is energy in quite a number of places around the school, but there are some dying departments especially in A/S.

I have seen/heard similar things about A/S...but I think many schools around the nation have the same issue.  A/S just isn't a sexy college, and the programs/classes aren't all that popular.  It's unfortunate, but I guess something has to bear the load.

I could be nasty, but that isn't necessary.

 

Suffice to say that a weak A/S means a weak university. DAAP and Engineering will slowly decline if the core courses at the university aren't covered and if there isn't a vibrant intellectual atmosphere flowing out from the core subjects. The good programs at UC, sadly, are mostly dressed up voc-ed stuff.

^^^We have gotten to the point that we send too many people to college for things that won't get them a job. "Dressed up voc-ed" stuff is the future. One thing that makes skilled labor so expensive today is that kids don't grow up working on cars or making things in woodshops, so they don't develop skills that can be translated to a trade. They just play video games. Then, when it's time to go to college or get a job, of course they go to college for something general, like business management or psychology that won't get you a job until you're 40.

 

Kids don't go to trade school because they won't get to live in the dorms, go to parties, do drugs, get laid and all that other stuff that makes college so great. If you can give someone the opportunity to have a traditional college experience, with a full general ed program and have them walk off with a skill such as fabricating things out of metal, working on cars, being a carpenter or electrician (fields that sorely need people and pay well right off the bat) you have created an extremely useful individual. Not only that, but the average level of proficiency will rise in these fields as more academic minded workers join the ranks, and the cost of labor will drop as businesses won't constantly find themselves short-handed.

 

I know I speak of male-dominated fields, but women have already been doing this in health care for years.

The problem is that UC doesn't do either very well. It doesn't have a strong enough core to be useful for the general educating component that a university should do above all. College should train you, to think for yourself, to read well, and to write very well. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

 

I'm not sure we should expect UC to provide the car mechanics and carpenters of the world, there are other institutions for that (which many UC students would likely find more valuable and rewarding). Despite contrary hopes, a university degree is a piece of paper that is a very important signal to our society that you have the potential to be a valuable employee.

 

Of course the real answer, is that once upon time high school did the really hard work of teaching people to think, read, write, and do some math. Now that is covered at a much higher price by the universities like UC.

The problem is that UC doesn't do either very well. It doesn't have a strong enough core to be useful for the general educating component that a university should do above all. College should train you, to think for yourself, to read well, and to write very well. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

 

What do you mean by "doesn't have a strong enough core"? UC has breadth of knowledge requirements. My first year I took economics, history, English (and actually, comp 101,102,and 103 are all required), a philosophy class, and psych in addition to classes for my major. Theres also a natural science and sociology that I'm required to take... I don't think you can get much more well rounded and I've certainly written tons of essays that required me to give my own opinion i.e. think for myself--hell, one of my planning classes required me to debate in front of the class why downtowns are obsolete (not even a side I wanted to debate) yet I have friends in the number one journalism school at northwestern and a friend in engineering at MIT, and they all get away with taking nothing but random ass electives that provide a really narrow scope, and my friends in Medill get away with barely showing up for class. IMO if you're a good student at UC you're getting a great well rounded education. If McMicken is struggling its probably because the only departments besides English are math (BORING) and philosophy (what are you going to do besides teach it?), as well as a major called "Organizational Leadership" (for people drifting aimlessly through life) and Economics (probably the most useful business degree one could get but theres such a demand for people holding Econ degrees that you can get one practically free as a grad student because barely anyone with an advanced Economics degree speaks English so they incentivize).

 

 

For what it's worth, my (very recent) graduating class has a 100% job placement for companies such like:  P&G, GE, Department of Defense, Texas Instruments, Intel, Dow Chemical, Honda R&D, Marathon, L-3, Citi, Northrup Grumman, etc.  For a "dressed-up voc-ed" program, we must be doing something right.  But then again, I did decide to turn down Purdue and OSU to go to UC.  So what do I know? ;)

 

It's not a school without fault, but the College of Engineering provides a top-notch undergraduate education.  BTW, the "dressed-up voc-ed" program is called OCAS, not Engineering or DAAP.  As for A/S, it's hit or miss over there.  But I did have excellent instructors for calculus and physics.

The point of my initial comment was that if the continued disinvestment in faculty continues at A/S and other colleges around UC continue. It won't be able to provide useful and valuable classes that make a college degree have meaning and that the strong areas like engineering and DAAP will start to falter. Its like a city. Couple key neighborhoods decline and the whole city will fall as well.

I'm not saying UC is in really bad shape, I'm saying that more people need to pay attention to what is happening at the faculty level because over time the university and its students will suffer. Unless you really like to take all your classes from adjuncts and grad students, then this is something to be up in arms about. In that case, NKU is for you anyway.

 

OCAS is voc-ed. I was mostly responding to the attitude that UCs strong college can stand alone if A/S disintegrates or goes all adjunct.

I bet their financial problems are the reason why the English dept has such strict attendance policies (missing 3 days, the highest grade you can get is a C, 4 days you fail the class, even if you have a stellar portfolo). You're guaranteed to get a large number of failed students retaking English class, meaning more money for a&s.

^ I think that speaks more to the lack of seriousness that many UC students have toward their education.

Sounds like a good thing. I hate it when people who miss half their classes are allowed to let it slide.

I could be nasty, but that isn't necessary.

 

Suffice to say that a weak A/S means a weak university. DAAP and Engineering will slowly decline if the core courses at the university aren't covered and if there isn't a vibrant intellectual atmosphere flowing out from the core subjects. The good programs at UC, sadly, are mostly dressed up voc-ed stuff.

 

I agree completely...I wasn't taking a shot at A/S stuff.

UC running out of slots

For first time, new students might have to wait to enroll

BY KIMBALL PERRY | [email protected]

 

If you're one of the more than 4,300 who hope to be incoming freshmen at the University of Cincinnati's main campus, you'd better let UC know soon - or you could wind up on a waiting list.

 

This is the first time in UC's history that it has had a wait list for students it has accepted.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070619/NEWS0102/706190366/1077/COL02&GID=pl+BUqQW2vbt8UQ8v2DO4dmF5eqWLBJXO8v5QDBZrls%3D

A little late to the punch on this one...it has been posted twice already.  Once under Business/Economy (TCK) and once in City Discussion (by me).  This one is probably the worst location though, if it's any consolation to you.  :laugh:

Robust renovation aligns infrastructure

Research, classroom space get major upgrades

BY JAMES RITCHIE | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER

August 24, 2007

 

UPTOWN - Progress on the renovation of the University of Cincinnati's Medical Science Building will start to become more visible in the next few months.

 

By the end of the year, a bridge between the building and a new structure, the Center for Advance Research and Education/Crawley Building, should be completed, and both buildings should be fully enclosed. Landscaping around CARE/Crawley will be finished, along with a terrazzo floor in the medical science building and case work such as cabinets in laboratories, the medical library and study areas.

Lab space, offices rising

March 11, 2008 | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER

 

CORRYVILLE - The University of Cincinnati Center for Academic Research Excellence/Crawley building is nearly completed on Eden Road just north of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

 

The $107.3 million building is scheduled to be complete in the fall.

^ I think that speaks more to the lack of seriousness that many UC students have toward their education.

 

Try students in genral. I've been to school in Columbus, St. Louis and now UC, and it's not any different except my profs usually didn't take attendance there like they do at UC

UC opening big research building

Impact on med center praised, but cost criticized

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080818/NEWS0102/808180372/1055/NEWS

 

The biggest and most expensive capital project in the University of Cincinnati's history is opening its $205 million first phase, adding another architectural touch to the school's medical campus and increasing university debt by more than $100 million.

People are so petrified at UC going in debt that they fail to realize all the positive things it means for the future.  If you build it, they will come...and the fact there's a huge number of incoming freshmen is only a taste.  I wish pesimistic people would stop and smell the roses once and a while.

People are so petrified at UC going in debt that they fail to realize all the positive things it means for the future.  If you build it, they will come...and the fact there's a huge number of incoming freshmen is only a taste.  I wish pesimistic people would stop and smell the roses once and a while.

 

Exactly.  Plus, it seems the enquirer editors only publish the thoughts of folks who always see the glass as half empty.

They have good reason to be scared. Since the building debt that was accumulated under the prior regime cut into the operating budget and means that many departments are massively undermanned. In general, UC faculty are substantially underpaid considering the standing of the university and the workload expected of them.

People are so petrified at UC going in debt that they fail to realize all the positive things it means for the future.  If you build it, they will come...and the fact there's a huge number of incoming freshmen is only a taste.  I wish pesimistic people would stop and smell the roses once and a while.

 

I could not have said it better myself. This project is a CRUCIAL part of not only putting UC ahead, but also moving the entire Uptown area into a smart research/education/arts focused area of Cincinnati.

 

I don't think it's possible for any major university to grow without pains, UC just chose to do their growth aggressively, quickly, and in a state-of-the-art manner...it's paying off more each year, there is just going to be a bit of financial strain to deal with. I believe the big picture is fine though.

^Thankyou.  See, people don't understand sometimes getting stronger comes with hardship.  Better facilities equal more people wanting to come there.  So, more people means more money which means more teachers are able to come...do I really need to go on?

^Not to mention research $$$

But if the debt cuts into operating money then all the pretty buildings in the world won't bring money, because at the end of the day, higher ed is about the people rather than the buildings, the brains not the bricks.

^In order to improve you're going to have to take some risks, unless you're satisfied with the status quo (which UC obviously wasn't).  UC has taken on some serious debt issues, but they have also made serious efforts in the past couple of years to return to financial stability.

 

Over the past 10-15 years, UC has completely rebuilt its campus, improved its academic standing, increased enrollment, and helped turn around the neighborhoods surround the university.  Additionally they have also increased the amount of money they receive in grants.  These things have happened because of the bold efforts UC has made.  If those didn't happen, and UC continually just balanced the budget, then we would not be discussing those things today.

 

I'll take all of those fundamental improvements for a few years of tight finances any day.  The debt will be gone within a couple of years, and UC is a far better institution academically because of it.

With all the current improvements going on at UC, the value of a University of Cincinnati degree will go up and up, meaning graduates will generally be making more money- money that can be donated back to the University.  UC is doing just fine I think.

^ I like the way you think! Though they might not get as much back as they'd hope ;)

^ I like the way you think! Though they might not get as much back as they'd hope ;)

 

I'm currently giving UC roughly 10k/year.  :|

Come 20 years from now, UC just might have to expand into Burnette Woods lol.

Come 20 years from now, UC just might have to expand into Burnette Woods lol.

 

S*it, they might as well...BW is a hot mess and is way underutilized because of the condition it is in

 

As a side note though, UC does still have a number of expansion options on it's own campus before they would need to look about crossing MLK or Clifton (think old auditorium, Calhoun Y building, and the east side of campus along Jefferson where there is quite a bit of empty, underutilized space)

About 10 years ago, UC nearly swallowed what's left of Burnett Woods. They were going to move most of the sports there, like the baseball stadium and tennis courts and such. The city and Clifton fought and won that battle. There is plenty of space on campus for reuse that would go before expansion. DAAP is only a 25 year building, so supposedly they'll have to start thinking about tweaking it in 10 or 15 years, plus the buildings mentioned above and you've got plenty to do. Old Chem needs some love at this point and stuff near Zimmer should be due for a major update in 10 or fifteen years. And there is always Crosley Tower.

I totally agree with UncleRando on this one; UC couldn't let a temporary cash flow problem block the University's progress.

Follow the link and check out the photo gallery.

 

Complex sets stage for research collaboration

20 medical departments anxious to join efforts: Nine stories of new lab, administrative and recreational space are now home to the next generation of UC lifesavers.

 

by Amanda Hughes

 

The renovated Medical Sciences Building and the new CARE/Crawley facility house some of the most technically advanced laboratory and research space in the nation. The head architect for the building was Erik Sueberkrop, DAAP '72, chairman and founding principal of Studios Achitecture. The firm's CEO is another UC alumnus, Todd De Garmo, DAAP '80.

 

Located in the Academic Health Center, the Center for Academic Research Excellence (CARE)/Crawley Building opened August 2008 after four years of construction and a cost of $134 million. The new building and the neighboring Medical Sciences Building, which has undergone the first of a five-phase renovation, will house more than 20 research departments from the College of Medicine.

 

The two buildings are connected via a glass atrium and together include more than 1 million square feet of space. Forward-thinking designers built research laboratories with enough flexibility so they can easily adapt to new science and technology for years to come.

 

Malak Kotb, chair of UC’s molecular genetics department, says the efficient design of the new laboratories led her to the university for her research. "The flexibility and the design really attracted me because I could just see that people would be able to interact better, be more productive and efficient in their work and be in a very pleasant environment," Kotb says. "We spend most of our lives in labs."

 

The Edith J. Crawley Vision Science Research Laboratory, part of the building, is the result of a $12 million bequest from the estate of Edith Johnson Crawley, A&S ’30, JD ’32, for whom a wing of the facility is named. The gift supports eye-disease research, particularly in the elderly.

 

The renovated MSB building offers areas for scientists and students to mingle and collaborate outside of a lab or classroom setting. In addition to academic spaces, a fitness center, a food-service area, meeting rooms, lounges and a bookstore round out the new facility.

 

"The old building was somewhat claustrophobic," says Greg Braswell, DAAP ’84, MBA ’91, director of planning for the Academic Health Center. "This gives us public gathering space that was lacking before."

 

Together the CARE/Crawley and MSB buildings make up one of the largest health-science research complexes in the country, leaving plenty of breathing room for all. The project features an environmentally friendly design and has been submitted to the U.S. Green Building Council as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) facility.

 

http://www.magazine.uc.edu/0908/medical.htm

^ Man, those pics are amazing!

Man that is sweet!  I think all the money UC is putting in to all types of facilities will really pay dividends in the near future.

Man that is sweet! I think all the money UC is putting in to all types of facilities will really pay dividends in the near future.

 

Yep ... I like the strategy! You gotta pay to play.

Amazing building that not only looks great, but will draw all types of talent and research funding to the university.  GREAT project...oh yeah, and it was designed by a UC Alum.

Our medical campus is bigger than downtown Dayton lol.

Our medical campus is bigger than downtown Dayton lol.

 

or Cincinnati's...

^ I assume this is a joke.  This is a great project and indeed will be a big draw for UC - great photos.

It's all a joke :).

Ah very sly - leave it open to interpretation.  I was going to say Colliers is a pretty easy way to prove or disprove either claim, but I can go with that.

 

I actually know a couple of scientists who relo'd from Boston and seem to like the space a lot, and I am a believer in this approach.

Of course I meant it as a joke.  Its just UC is becoming pretty impressive because when you drive down MLK it literally looks like a mini city or something.