While students were away enjoying Christmas break, facilities management completed 13 renovation projects across campus, including the new fencing and landscaping along the school track and football field, the 2,500 square-foot extension in Heritage and new ceiling tiles, lighting, chairs, desks and carpeting in Wilden Hall.
“I was pleasantly surprised to see all the improvements made around campus over break, especially the ones in Wilden. The new seats and desks make the classroom appear much more sophisticated,” said junior international business major Jessica Martinez.
Building One on West Campus received a remodeled restroom, ceiling tiles, carpet, painting and new lights as well. These were not the only enhancements made on campus as Trinity Hall, Darling Library, Galileo Film Studio and the football coaches’ offices also received attention within the four weeks.
“According to student surveys, one of the top reasons students choose to come to APU is the ambiance or physical environment here,” said the executive director of design and construction, Jim Christl. “Some of these projects were [done] to maintain or increase the ambiance.”
While some students were satisfied with the improved aesthetics that were accomplished over the break, others were unsatisfied, as they felt other improvements would have been more beneficial for the student body.
“I am not that ecstatic about [the improvements],” said senior graphic design major Graydon Driver. “I feel as though they could do a number of things that would benefit the student body more than building an extension for Heritage. … I would have preferred to see the dorms updated and modernized or maybe even a pool on Trinity Lawn.”
According to Christl, improvements are based on priority, budget and specific requests made by those who donated money to help support these projects.
Throughout each school year, facilities management meets with the Student Government Association to discuss what the students want to see happen next on campus. From there, new ideas are presented while the facilities team prioritizes each item on the list and analyzes how well it fits into the budget. Aside from SGA meetings, students may also submit requests through work orders and customer surveys.
Driver wasn’t the only one to state his concern, as a number of other students took to the “Overheard at APU” Facebook page to discuss their apprehension about where the money was coming from to support these projects. Many of these students worry the expense will increase their tuition or that the dollars spent on their education are not being used wisely.
“The funding for these projects generally came from three sources: … the deferred maintenance budget, donor money and department funds,” Christl said.
Christl also shared the way in which the projects would benefit the students, stating that those in Wilden Hall alone “increased the number of seats, replaced broken chairs and increased the lighting.”
While the majority of projects were completed within the short time frame, the fencing and landscaping along the football field are expected to be complete in February and the carpet replacement will continue in Wilden over weekends in spring semester.