Haley Center classrooms receive improvements

As the university welcomed students and faculty back to campus last week, those with courses in Haley Center returned to find significant improvements to more than 70 classrooms.

As part of a strategic investment by the Provost’s Office and Facilities Management to elevate the university’s teaching and learning environment, the classrooms were upgraded with nearly 2,000 new desks and chairs and dozens of new lecterns, instructor chairs and whiteboards. 

Designed to promote student engagement, the new amenities offer students more comfortable seating to encourage interactive learning. In addition to the furniture, the rooms also received cosmetic and other maintenance improvements, including fresh paint and refinished floors.

“Walking into my class in Haley Center was such a different experience from last year,” said Gracie Sarkowski, a sophomore in interior design. “Compared to the old metal desks, the new furniture made the classroom seem more fun and gave us something to talk about, especially on the first day.”

The upgrades are a part of the university’s strategic approach to modernizing classroom and informal learning spaces by introducing flexible furniture that is more ergonomic and supports a broader range of teaching and learning styles. Similar learning spaces can be found throughout the university’s central classroom facilities, including the Mell Classroom Building and Academic Classroom and Laboratory Complex. Haley Center provides instructional space for several colleges in addition to supporting various university programs during the summer months.

“These improvements help to bring our classrooms to current standards,” said Provost Vini Nathan. “Despite being over 50 years old, Haley Center continues to provide our campus with a facility that affords us flexibility and capacity. While our office is glad to fund the updated classroom furniture for our students and faculty, we are grateful to the facilities team for their efforts to coordinate the improvements during a short window this summer.”