Academic departments will be doing musical chairs during the summer and fall semesters as campus projects finish and as more space becomes available.
The Edward H. and Idonna E. Snow Science Center is one of the larger projects that began this semester and is expected to be ready for students in the fall.
Facilities Planning Director Jon Gibb said once the Snow building is finished, the math department will start its transition into that building. This allows the education department to move into the North Instructional Building.
When the education department moves to the NIB, the music department will then take over the Education and Family Sciences Building, adding some classrooms and practice rooms for the students, Gibb said.
These transitions will take place during the summer and into the fall.
Remodeling the Technology Building is one project campus services is planning for the summer. Automotive shops will be converted into classrooms in order to make more room for Success Academy students, Gibb said.
Success Academy is a program where high school students can graduate with an associate degree along with a high school diploma.
Campus Memory Gardens are also going to be started and completed during the summer.
The Memory Gardens are small pavilion structures with wireless Internet and power, allowing students to take their studying away from the indoors.
“Students [will] have the opportunity to take a learning environment from the classroom to the outdoor environment,” Gibb said.
The eight Memory Gardens are individually funded by donors with a certain theme attached to them. For example, one named “Widow’s Might” is centered on a story about a single mother.
“They’re stories told by donors,” Gibb said. “The money used to build these are from donors, and they have a story to be told.”
Another project starting in the summer is the construction of an 85-foot clock tower with three faces, said Sherry Ruesch, executive director of campus services.
This clock will be placed between the Holland Centennial Commons and Udvar-Hazy School of Business.
Ruesch said most of the upcoming projects won’t be noticeable by students.
She said Dixie State University is trying to become more energy efficient, and upgrades in heating and air conditioning as well as recycling initiatives are helping to reach this goal.
Ruesch said water saving is the next initiative for the campus to become more efficient.
“We’re trying to get more energy efficient in every way including water savings and power savings,” Ruesch said.
