DePaul Unveils Plans for New Science Building: University Hoping to Boost Program
By Jodi S. Cohen, Chicago Tribune
Jun. 6–DePaul University will break ground Wednesday on a new science building, its second in 10 years, as part of an effort to put new emphasis on the sciences.
At a campus better known for social sciences and business, officials hope the $37.5 million building and a larger roster of science classes will lead to more students choosing to major in biology, chemistry and other science fields.
Since 2001, the university has seen a 21 percent increase in tenure-track science faculty and a 48 percent increase in the number of undergraduate science majors. Still, less than 5 percent of undergraduates are science majors, and that could be hard to change at a university without a medical school or PhD-level science programs.
“We have many more students now who see a future for themselves in science and technology areas,” said Charles Suchar, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “One thing that has always limited us has been the lack of up-to-date facilities.”
The new 100,000-square-foot four-story building at 2315 N. Clifton Ave. will house the chemistry department, which has been in the 70-year-old O’Connell Hall, as well as some biology and environmental science classes. It will have 23 research labs and eight teaching labs, providing faculty members with their own laboratory space and giving more undergraduates a chance to do research.
The roof will feature two greenhouses, one for teaching and one for research. The building will be also designed to be more energy-efficient. Several faculty members said they envision projects where students measure the energy efficiency of the new building compared with the campus’ older facilities in Lincoln Park.
The building, expected to be completed by November 2008, will be connected by a second-floor walkway to the William G. McGowan Biological and Environmental Sciences Building, which opened in 1998. It will be named for McGowan’s brother, Msgr. Andrew J. McGowan, whose family foundation donated $2 million for the building.
“For a long time now we have invested in other areas of the curriculum. This has been long overdue,” Suchar said.
The new facility also will be used by future teachers who are getting a master’s degree in science education, and it will provide space as DePaul faculty members work with K-12 students and others in the community.
Environmental sciences chairman James Montgomery, who has been teaching a forensic science class to 25 middle-school students, said he can do even more with new equipment and his own lab space.
“The new building will revolutionize how we teach science to everybody,” said Montgomery.
Senior chemistry major Shannon McGinty said that because of her program’s small size, she has been able to work in a physical chemistry lab and was a teaching assistant beginning in her sophomore year.
“I hope that people start to realize that we do have a strong science program here and take advantage of a lot of the opportunities that being a science student at DePaul offers,” she said.
The building will be funded in part from an ongoing $20 million fundraising campaign for science education. About $14 million has been raised, including $9 million from the state. Several million dollars will go toward endowed professorships and scholarships for students majoring in the sciences.
jscohen@tribune.com
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