march 2015 news & notes

6
MARCH 2015 l 1 EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER MARCH 2015 Construction is underway on the new Science and Technology Building, with crews currently working to excavate the site. Initial work has also begun on pouring the building’s foundation. Located on the southern edge of campus on Sage Street between Center Street and 1st West, the 108,000 sq. ſt. facility will provide needed classroom, lab, and faculty office space for the Departments of Animal and Food Science, Applied Plant Science, Computer Information Technology, and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. e corridors and study areas in the three-level building will be open and airy, with large windows throughout to allow for natural lighting. “e Science and Technology Building is designed to be functional and practical, yet attractive and conducive to learning,” said Wayne Clark, managing director of University Operations at BYU-Idaho. “is building will meet a number of academic needs at the university, and it will be exciting to see how students are blessed by the opportunities and resources it will provide.” Construction on the Science and Technology Building will continue through the summer of 2016, with the facility expected to be ready for use by Fall Semester 2016. Work is continuing on two other major construction projects: a new heat plant and a new housing complex for students. e new Central Energy Facility, begun in 2013, replaces aging coal-fired boilers with natural gas equipment. Two of the new gas-fired boilers are now operational and have been providing heat for campus buildings since November 2014. e old coal-fired plant has been decommissioned and is being prepared for demolition. e Central Energy Facility is on track to be completed in 2016. Centre Square, a new housing complex for male and female students, is scheduled to be completed and ready for occupancy this fall. Located on the northwest corner of 7th South and 1st West, Centre Square consists of three buildings that will offer a total of 850 beds. Two of the buildings will house female students, with the remaining building housing male students. Centre Square will offer apartments in 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom floor plans. continued on page 2 Construction begins on new Science and Technology Building OTHER CAMPUS BUILDING PROJECTS PROGRESSING » By Marc Stevens

Upload: byu-idaho

Post on 08-Apr-2016

218 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

DESCRIPTION

 

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: March 2015 News & Notes

1 l BYU- IDAHO NEWS & NOTES MARCH 2015 l 1

EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER MARCH 2015

Construction is underway on the new Science and Technology Building, with crews currently working to excavate the site. Initial work has also begun on pouring the building’s foundation.

Located on the southern edge of campus on Sage Street between Center Street and 1st West, the 108,000 sq. ft. facility will provide needed classroom, lab, and faculty office space for the Departments of Animal and Food Science, Applied Plant Science, Computer Information Technology, and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. The corridors and study areas in the three-level building will be open and airy, with large windows throughout to allow for natural lighting.

“The Science and Technology Building is designed to be functional and practical, yet attractive and conducive to learning,”

said Wayne Clark, managing director of University Operations at BYU-Idaho. “This building will meet a number of academic needs at the university, and it will be exciting to see how students are blessed by the opportunities and resources it will provide.”

Construction on the Science and Technology Building will continue through the summer of 2016, with the facility expected to be ready for use by Fall Semester 2016. Work is continuing on two other major construction projects: a new heat plant and a new housing complex for students.

The new Central Energy Facility, begun in 2013, replaces aging coal-fired boilers with natural gas equipment. Two of the new gas-fired boilers are now operational and have been providing heat for campus

buildings since November 2014. The old coal-fired plant has been decommissioned and is being prepared for demolition. The Central Energy Facility is on track to be completed in 2016.

Centre Square, a new housing complex for male and female students, is scheduled to be completed and ready for occupancy this fall. Located on the northwest corner of 7th South and 1st West, Centre Square consists of three buildings that will offer a total of 850 beds.

Two of the buildings will house female students, with the remaining building housing male students. Centre Square will offer apartments in 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom floor plans.

continued on page 2

Construction begins on new Science and Technology Building OTHER CAMPUS BUILDING PROJECTS PROGRESSING

» By Marc Stevens

Page 2: March 2015 News & Notes

2 l BYU- IDAHO NEWS & NOTES

A total of 24 common areas will dot the property including lounges, lobbies, study rooms, music rooms, and two large gathering rooms. A large green space will sit between the buildings.

“As its name implies, Centre Square is intended to be a place of gathering and fellowship,” said Troy Dougherty, director of Housing and Student Living at BYU-Idaho. “We envision this new housing complex truly being a community of men and women centered on living the principles of the gospel.”

Other changes are coming to existing on-campus housing facilities. This spring, Ricks Hall will switch temporarily from women’s to men’s housing.

This change will provide male residents with an on-campus apartment option that includes a full kitchen. The other men’s building, Chapman Hall, does not include a kitchen.

This change also brings the available number of on-campus units for male and female students into greater balance.

In April, Lamprecht Hall will be converted into office space and be occupied by university employees beginning August 2015. Chapman Hall will be converted to office space at a later date as needed.

The remaining on-campus housing buildings—Barnes, Kerr, Perkins, and Ricks Halls—are scheduled to

be demolished in 2016. The land formerly occupied by those buildings is set to become student parking.

“The existing on-campus housing buildings have reached the end of their usable life span,” Clark said. “Fortunately, we have the flexibility to retain and repurpose two of them as much needed office space. But with the completion of the new Centre Square complex just around the corner, the time is right to take the remaining buildings out of service.”

Finally, the Viking Village apartment complex, located at the northeast corner of 2nd South and Center Street, has been purchased by the university and has been demolished.

This project is part of the university’s broader effort to purchase property along College Avenue for future institutional needs.

The land formerly occupied by the Viking Village complex will be converted to a 154-stall parking lot.

Construction on the parking lot, which will be designated for “North” zone permits, will begin this summer and will be completed in time for Fall Semester 2015.

Construction Update: Continued from page 1

Page 3: March 2015 News & Notes

2 l BYU- IDAHO NEWS & NOTES MARCH 2015 l 3

BYU-Idaho has announced a bachelor of science in biostatistics, a cross-departmental degree that has been made available through the Interdisciplinary Studies program.

The new degree took advantage of years of hard work and preparation from various departments that built the components of the degree before the actual degree was even envisioned.

According to Jackie Nygaard, chair of the Department of Mathematics, faculty members saw a need for a statistics degree and the department started setting things into motion by developing a statistics concentration.

“We knew the process for getting a new major was very lengthy, so we started looking at what other options were available to us,” Nygaard said.

Interdisciplinary Studies played an important role in getting a statistics-concentrated degree established.

The organization for Interdisciplinary Studies is set up independent of any one department. It is able to bridge multiple departments to develop new degrees.

These degrees are created when a department or a student proposes a new degree by combining current concentrations, minors, and clusters.

All degrees must be approved by the Curriculum Council, Deans’ Council, and President’s Council before they can become an official degree.

“The university looks for specific needs and opportunities in industry and develops degrees to prepare students to fill those needs,” said Kendall Peck, director of Interdisciplinary Studies. “The objective is to look for areas that can prepare a student and propel them into the work force or graduate school.”

These degrees use existing classes and resources, so there is no added cost to the university in introducing these new degrees.

Originally, the Interdisciplinary Studies degrees were all individually designed by students and were called bachelor in Interdisciplinary Studies. This option is still available to students.

However, approval was given last month to prepackage some of these degrees and to name them to reflect the respective field of study. These newly named degrees are known as University-Defined Interdisciplinary Degrees. A bachelor of science in

biostatistics is the most recent of eight university-defined interdisciplinary degrees.

This recent concept of naming these degrees gives students a great advantage over the previously genericly-titled degrees.

Marc Skinner, associate dean of Inter-University Relations, said, “There is greater value of a named degree and having it more clearly represented for our students’ studies as well as their diplomas. It provides clarity for them to know what they are working toward, and it represents them better in the job market.”

During the development of the new biostatistics degree the university hired a new faculty member, Garrett Saunders, a statistician by trade.

“It was the right place at the right time, and I was able to contribute to this effort,” said Saunders.

The university compared itself with

some of the top statistics programs in the United States to see what it could do to get a statistics program started and prepare students for entry level positions or graduate school.

The main emphasis for this degree is to prepare students for graduate school.

In the end, the faculty found the perfect mix of biology, computer science, and mathematics to create a degree in biostatistics.

“It is the closest thing we can come to a fully functional statistics degree without

adding resources,” said Nygaard.

Students have shown a lot of interest in the new degree and some have already switched over to this major.

“We are very excited to see what growth this brings to the university and the possibility for future statistics degrees,” said Saunders.

Interdisciplinary degrees will continue to grow and take shape as the job market and graduate school demand. The university will keep an eye on these new degrees and will allocate resources as necessary.

“We are preparing career paths for our students to succeed,” said Peck. “These Interdisciplinary Studies degrees are an integral part of that success.”

Biostatistics degree created as part of Interdisciplinary Studies program» By Clint Urick

We are preparing career paths for our students to succeed. These Interdisciplinary Studies degrees are an integral part of that success.K E N DA L L P E C K D I R E C TO R , I N T E R D I S C I P L I NA RY S T U D I E S

Page 4: March 2015 News & Notes

4 l BYU- IDAHO NEWS & NOTES

Through a collaborative effort with Madison High School and Soapbox Agency, the BYU-Idaho Department of Horticulture recently placed first in the national Come Alive Outside Design Challenge.

Come Alive Outside is a non-profit organization that began in 2010 with the primary objective of helping kids spend less time in front of a screen inside, and more time playing and enjoying the outdoors. The organization began as a reaction to the increasing problem across the United States with child obesity and other ailments.

“Childhood obesity is going up significantly, as well as attention deficit disorders,” Reese Nelson, faculty member in the Department of Applied Plant Science, said. “It’s just a tragedy. Part of the solution is getting kids outside.”

Come Alive Outside’s Design Challenge is one of its program that helps the organization raise awareness as well as promote community involvement. For the Design Challenge, BYU-Idaho worked with Madison High School, community members, and landscape professionals in designing a 4-acre garden.

“It was an ideal example of collaboration,” Nelson said.

Madison High School students brought to BYU-Idaho ideas for the garden and how they wanted it to function and look. From there, they collaborated together to design a beautiful garden which holds fruit trees, raised garden beds, water features, and even an amphitheater.

The design was created as a 20-year master plan, and Madison High School will build the garden incrementally through the coming years. Similar to the Ricks Gardens on campus, will use it as an outdoor classroom where students can experience hands-on learning.

For the competition, BYU-Idaho-run Soapbox Agency created a video that showed the collaboration that took place as well as the 3D designs of the gardens.

“I think Soapbox is the best kept secret on campus,” Nelson said. “They’ve done several things with me, and every time I’m blown away.”

The combination of design, practicality, functionality, creativity, and ability to stay within a set budget helped BYU-Idaho edge out the win in the challenge, and win a $1,000 award which will go to developing the gardens.

Department of Horticulture and Soapbox Agency collaborate on garden project » By Brock Allen

BYU-Idaho set to host Idaho State Geographic Bee» By Paul Morgan

BYU-Idaho will host the 2015 Idaho State Geographic Bee. The university community is invited to attend the final round of the bee, which will take place on Friday, March 27 at 1:30 p.m. in the Manwaring Center Grand Ballroom.

The geography bee that has been sponsored by National Geographic for 26 years will see fourth through eighth graders from across the state compete in spelling bee fashion, for the title of geography bee champion.

Every year thousands of schools from across the country participate in the National Geographic Bee.

The state competition will see around 80 youngsters compete for victory and advancement to the national final in Washington, D.C.

The contest is not only a great opportunity for the competitors to demonstrate their geographic knowledge and prowess, but also provides them with an opportunity to familiarize

themselves with campus and the potential future opportunities it may hold.

“This is a great event. It’s a lot of fun for everyone who goes to it. It’s great to watch the kids compete, and to see how smart they really are,” said Michael Madsen, faculty member of the Department of History, Geography and Political Science.

While the event is sponsored and governed by National Geographic, Michael Madsen, along with 20 volunteers will help to oversee the running of the geography bee. Madsen will also provide families with tours of campus, and help facilitate an enjoyable and memorable day for all involved.

“On campus we don’t often host events that aren’t directly related to the university, and so I’m very grateful I was able to get the necessary permission to host the geography bee here, said Madsen. “The majority of people coming to the event are not Latter-day Saints, so it’s nice to be able to share our campus with them.”

It’s great to watch the kids compete, and to see how smart they really are.M I C H A E L M A D S E N D E P T. O F H I S TO RY, G E O G R A P H Y & P O L I T I C A L S C I E N C E

Page 5: March 2015 News & Notes

4 l BYU- IDAHO NEWS & NOTES MARCH 2015 l 5

Claire Tueller, a piano performance major in the Department of Music, recently won the regional final of the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Performance Competition.

The competition is organized by the MTNA and is an annual opportunity for competitors to showcase their talent and hard work.

The northwest regional final of the competition was held in Boise.

Tueller advanced to the regional stage of the competition as Idaho’s representative after winning the state competition back in November. She will compete in the national finals at the end of March in Las Vegas.

While Tueller is very familiar with the competition and has competed several times before, her recent victory is the first time she has advanced to the national segment of the contest.

“Winning this competition was unexpected and a little surreal,” said Tueller. “I’ve been playing since I was about four or five, so performing in competitions is something I am very familiar with, but this was a great surprise and achievement for me.”

As part of the competition, Tueller was required to play 40 consecutive minutes of music from memory.

In total, she took three pieces of music for the judges to choose from and have her perform. In preparation for the competition, Tueller has been practicing her particular pieces of music for

over a year.

The impressive catalog of music she took to the competition consisted of fairly long substantial pieces, including Samuel Barber’s piano sonata.

“The performance definitely has elements of mental and physical endurance,”

said Tueller. “I was asked by the judges to pick my first piece, then they picked what they wanted to hear after that. I was in there for about 30 to 40 minutes just playing whatever they asked for.”

Tueller’s dedication to the piano has enabled her to progress through many competitions in the past and has allowed her to develop the skills necessary to attain her future goals, including a doctorate in performance.

Tueller’s achievements are a reflection of her discipline and hard work.

“I have learned how good it feels to be well prepared. I worked as hard as I could before the competition, and I knew that after I had done everything I could, that’s when the divine assistance comes in too, which I know is a very real part of it,” said Tueller.

Piano performance major wins regional competition» By Paul Morgan

I’ve been playing since I was about four or five, so performing in competitions is something I am very familiar with, but this was a great surprise and achievement for me.C L A I R E T U E L L E R P I A N O P E R F O R M A N C E M A J O R

Claire Tueller performs at the MTNA Young Artist Performance Competition.

Page 6: March 2015 News & Notes

6 l BYU- IDAHO NEWS & NOTES

News & NotesA monthly publication of University Relations

A D V I S O R Marc Stevens

W R I T E R S Brock Allen, Paul Morgan, Clint Urick

PHOTOGRAPHERS Michael Lewis, Ryan Chase, Leanna Davidson, Tyler Rickenbach

If you have any ideas for future issues, please e-mail [email protected].

Changes made to scholarships awarded to BYU-Idaho students

Beginning in the 2015-16 academic year, BYU-Idaho will no longer offer school scholarships that exceed the cost of tuition.

“The reason for this change is to spread these funds out for more students who have financial need,” said Ken Jackson, manager of University Aid and Communications.

Ultimately, this will allow more students the opportunity to enjoy the education offered here, and the university hopes to see a greater number of students in need benefit from the program.

FOR SALE

Putting together a group order of hard white wheat. Sealed buckets or bags. Group order means no shipping charges. Email Brenda at [email protected] or text/call (208) 201-0038.

Campus-wide power outage next monthA planned power outage will take place Sunday, Apr. 12 from 8 p.m. through Monday, Apr. 13 at 6 a.m. across the entire university,

including all on-campus housing.

This scheduled outage is part of the construction process for the the new Central Energy Facility. Generators will ensure vital services are maintained throughout the outage, including fire and security support as well as internet and network access.

However, students, faculty, and ecclesiastical leaders who need to access the network and other web services from on campus may not be able to during the outage. Please be aware of this outage and plan accordingly.

BYU-Idaho Support Center available to assist campus departments

Is your department flooded with in-bound phone calls? Are you struggling to adequately meet the needs of students and others who contact your office?

The BYU-Idaho Support Center is ready to partner with you to take level-one calls and decrease your employees’ time spent on the phone. Help is also available via live chat, email, and walk-ins.

The goal is to help your department prepare for and handle the influx of students coming to attend BYU-Idaho. The BYU-Idaho Support Center has both the capacity and capability to handle all the customer’s level-one questions, as well as a proven work system to make contacting BYU-Idaho a pleasant experience.

To get started or learn more about a partnership agreement, contact Nathan Relken at Ext. 2910 of [email protected].