Summer 2018 Renovations Update

The start of the project is now planned for after commencement on May 19, 2019. Moves of offices and changes in services and facilities will be announced beforehand.

Dear Colleagues and Students,

At this very busy and exciting time of year, I wanted to share a quick update on our plans for renovating the Ruth S. Harley University Center (UC) and let you know what’s ahead during the next few months.

Many of you have reached out to me with questions and have provided great feedback on the project; I hope this update will be helpful to our campus community.

• The UC renovation will continue in its planning stage, using the input already received from our Student Advisory and Faculty Advisory Panels. These panels will provide counsel and guidance as we move forward with designing the new building. If you would like to join either of these panels, or to offer your thoughts as we begin to move into areas such as dining and food choices, please let me know.

• We will be designing expanded spaces in the UC. More gallery space, a much larger dining area, expanded multiuse meeting/academic space, an expanded commuter lounge, a large new Wellness Center, increased accessibility, and more all-gender restrooms, along with many other functional and aesthetic improvements, are planned. Overall, the extensive use of glass walls will create a light, airy space out of the current “fortress-like” UC. We will also work to make our new UC environmentally friendly.

• There will be no disruptions to services at the UC during the Fall 2018 term. The UC will continue to serve food, provide regular services to students, be open for meetings, etc.

• We will be launching the UC renovation microsite to help keep you informed about how we are doing. Here, you’ll be able to get the latest updates, photos, schedules and plans so that we are transparent with the members of our community.

Many of you have asked about other academic renovations, and whether these will be deferred or canceled due to the UC project. Please be assured that we are in fact increasing academic renovations this summer.

• Renovations and upgrades will be made to seven classrooms, including classrooms in Earle Hall, Hagedorn Hall and the Social Work building.

• Renovations will be done in three labs, including a new archaeology lab in Alumnae Hall.

• Tech upgrades will be installed in more than 13 classrooms. This includes technology upgrades for two labs and many other academic spaces, with more than 275 new computers across the Colleges and Schools.

• We will begin to conduct assessments of our learning spaces so that we can better understand how to improve these areas. We will particularly welcome input from faculty as this process gets underway.

• We will introduce improvements to further diversity and inclusion by widening bathroom stalls in the Nexus Building for people with disabilities, expanding spaces for veterans and updating accessibility signage to include modern language and logos.

In addition to these academic improvements, Linen Hall will receive a much-needed renovation, and we will increase custodial service during the summer to accommodate the influx of campers.

Also, in response to many questions from our faculty and staff, I will be reviewing Adelphi’s work order system to see how it can be improved to benefit all of us.

This will be one of the busiest summers on record for Facilities Management. I thank those of you who will be working so hard on these projects over the summer; I will send another update in late August so that our entire community can begin to plan ahead for changes of venue, alternate dining and meeting spaces, and other accommodations needed during the build-out of the UC.

Thank you for working together as we look forward to a summer of exciting changes at Adelphi!

Sincerely,

James Perrino
Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration
Office of Finance and Administration