Dr. Leland welcomes Herty Hall renovations
Renovation work to Herty Hall, including and a 1,600-square-foot addition to the building, is underway after this past Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony.
GCSU President Dorothy Leland attended the groundbreaking and spoke about the potential impact the project could have on the university.
“Providing our students with state-of-the art science facilities and labs will enhance their learning experiences here at Georgia College,” Leland said. “These future teachers, doctors, nurses and engineers will benefit from the hands-on laboratory experience and the one-on-one interaction with instructors the addition will offer.”
With the growth of the biology department now being the largest major in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, enrollment is topping 400 undergraduates each year, making the new facilities much needed, those in the department say.
The new addition will provide GCSU students and professors in the science department with laboratories, classrooms, and offices. An accompanying renovation of 45-year-old Herty Hall will allow program expansion for the recently incorporated physics degree.
Ken Procter, dean of The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, believes the upgrade to Herty Hall is a necessary project.
“Physics is really taking off here at Georgia College,” Procter said. “The Herty Hall construction will accommodate the revitalized interest in physics as a major and the state’s urgent need to produce physics teachers.”
Tara Peters, executive director of the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the Herty Hall expansion.
“The benefits will continue to flow throughout the community for years to come,” Peters said. “The university’s science programs produce highly desirable graduates for businesses and industries that need trained chemists, biologists, physicists and environmental experts.”
The new facilities will help the university keep up with the growing size of the science department and the necessary technology it needs, officials said
“Teaching facilities need to modernize,” Procter said. “In response, colleges all across the country are renovating or replacing aging science buildings. We want to give our students the best education and experiences in science that we can. The Herty addition will help us do that. The rest is up to us.”
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Nov 20 2009. Filed under News.
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