Dean’s message
Architecture, Planning and Design
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Dennis Law, dean, College of |
K-State graduates with training in environmental design have been impacting their world since 1871. But it’s environmental improvements that make Dennis Law, dean of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design, most proud. The college completed a $6 million Phase I renovation to Seaton Hall in 2000.
“Without a doubt, I’m most proud of our renovation,” Law said. “Seaton Hall is more than 100 years old, and the renovation is such a contrast to what we had earlier. It’s safer. It’s more efficient. The ongoing renovation of Seaton is a significant event in the history of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design.”
From Phase I to Phase II and Phase III
Phase I, funded by state of Kansas “Crumbling Classroom” funds and university monies, included installation of life-safety and ADA features as well as new exterior windows and doors throughout the building. It also eliminated nonload-bearing walls in the east wing’s first and second floors to provide for construction of central corridors with tack surfaces (student display areas) and track lighting; zoned HVAC; studios with sinks, ample electrical power and network connections at every desk; dedicated jury spaces (where students present their projects and designs to a jury of peers and professionals) and classrooms; a two-story atrium; faculty and department offices; and a conference room.”
Now, the focus of the Seaton Hall renovation project has shifted to Phase II - refurbishment of the east wing basement. Phase II, to be funded through private sources, will include a new center to accommodate relocation and expansion of the Weigel Library, the Krider Resource and Visual Learning Center, and offices for technology support.
“We actually lost space in Phase I renovation, and we need classrooms and space for the library, offices and studios,” Law said.
The new visual learning center will also house a visualization lab, the Geographic Information Systems lab and a high-tech classroom. Studios, a model shop and spray booth, restrooms and offices for OZ journal and student organizations will also be located in the basement. “It is imperative that we move Weigel Library to the basement because of fire and life safety violations in its current third-floor location,” he said. “We’ll finish the entire basement incrementally as we raise the funds.”
A third phase of Seaton Hall renovation “is really the lion’s share of our renovation,” Law said, but is still very much in the conceptualization stage. Phase III includes the demolition and reconstruction of the structure linking Seaton Hall and Seaton Court, creating a new main college entrance along the campus’s north-south pedestrian corridor. It may also house administrative offices, a gallery and lecture space.
Alumni support
But physical improvements aren’t all that’s going on in the college. In 2004, Mary Jarvis, ’42, the first female graduate of the BLA program, contributed $500,000 to fund the Mary Jarvis Endowed Chair in Landscape Architecture. This was the first gift received by the KSU Foundation that qualified under the Faculty of Distinction program established by the state legislature in 2000. The state acts as a partner, providing supplemental funding to the income earnings of each gift.
Law believes such support from alumni is integral to the college’s success as an interdisciplinary, comprehensive, environmental design school that is nationally recognized. In fact, the college achieved its highest ranking ever, with four programs in the top 10 nationally, according to surveys conducted by Design Intelligence magazine.
“Our students are the greatest there are, and our faculty measure their own accomplishments by how well the students do in competitions. The faculty themselves work harder with less support and salary,” Law said. “But without the alumni we couldn’t open the doors. There is nothing we do that can be done without the support of our alumni. People are surprised at the small proportion of money the university receives from tuition and taxes. The majority of our funding comes from private gifts. We need to continue to educate people not only about what our needs are, but why we have those needs.”