Alumni

 

 

IMPACT OF A GIFT

Buchanan Hall Opens
Modern meets environmentally friendly design in the renovation of this South Campus building.

By Lindsay Beller

A student bikes up to Buchanan Hall past designated parking spots for fuel-efficient cars and enters a room to shower and change into business attire. The student is an education major, and she is attending a career workshop in Vail Commons, a student lounge located on the first floor. Many of her classes are held in the same building, where she uses technology that will prepare her for a career as a teacher.
 
This scenario illustrates how the seamless integration of modern classroom technology with a functional space and environmentally friendly design benefit students in the newly renovated Buchanan Hall, which reopened in August.
 
Formerly the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, the 21,700-square-foot facility houses the Departments of Religion, Education, and Theater as well as Career Services, the Health and Wellness Center, Ethics Center, a meditation room, and Vail Commons, a student lounge that also holds workshops, presentations, and lectures. Efforts are also underway to obtain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Buildings Council, which would make Buchanan Hall the first green building on campus.
 
The $2.3 million renovation was made possible by a $1.25 million gift from the Buchanan Family Foundation, a longtime supporter of the College. The gift is part of The 150th Anniversary Campaign for Lake Forest College, which seeks to raise $100 million to double the endowment, to increase the Annual Fund, and to build and improve facilities on campus.

The Buchanan Family

It is a building that already stands to benefit students in many ways. The strategic location of certain departments and offices allows for effective and interdisciplinary collaboration. The well-designed space and latest classroom technology enhances the academic experience. New energy-efficient systems save the College money, and the environmental initiative makes for a healthier place to work and go to class.

More Opportunities to Collaborate
 
"The vitality of academic departments and student services adds to the exciting dynamic of the building," says Shelley Sherman, associate professor of education and department chair. Part of this "exciting dynamic" is the ease with which departments housed in the building can now collaborate with each other in ways that benefit students.
 
Learning Support Specialist Teryn Robinson, who provides academic support and coordinates accommodations for students with disabilities, works a floor above Career Services Director Ellen Bartkowiak. "Ellen and I are already thinking of ways to collaborate, including career counseling aimed at students with disabilities and issues specific to them, such as when to disclose a disability to a prospective or future employer," Robinson says.
 
According to Bartkowiak, foot traffic has doubled from her officeís previous location in Rosemary House because the more central location makes it easier for students to drop in to learn about internships and career workshops. Working in the same building allowed Bartkowiack to collaborate with Ethics Center Director and Philosophy Professor Lou Lombardi to develop a panel that met in October and addressed ethics in the workplace called "Business Overseas: Cheat or Be Beat?"

Better Space
 
The building also provides new and improved space for classes and programs. For example, Lombardi started the Ethics Center in the fall of 2006 to look at issues of academic honesty and the values of the College. Last year, he ran the center out of his office. In the new building, the Ethics Center includes a reading room and conference space in the basement.
 
Down the hall is the new Interfaith Center, an umbrella group for several religious-based student organizations, which is located on South Campus for the first time in its 30-year history. There is also a meditation room for students to reflect, meditate, or pray in a quiet space.
 
Religion classes are held in the building as well. Reflecting the increased interest in the department, religion is now offered as a major for the first time in several decades. The department has expanded Asian classes and added faculty to provide more breadth across religions.
 
The new setting works well for Director of Health and Wellness William Divane, who says, "Buchanan Hall allows us to provide integrated care." Previously, Health Services was located in the Sports Center and the Counseling Center was based separately in Hotchkiss Hall near the psychology department, where students seeking help risked bumping into their professors or other students. Now they are both under one roof in the newly created Health and Wellness Center, where the first-floor space, with examination and seminar rooms and a private waiting area, functions more like a professional clinic.
 
Offering both counseling and physical services in the same space fits with the centerís new direction to provide more holistic services that address the health of mind and body. "Historically we operated reactively," Divane says. "Now we're trying to be more proactive about educating students so they can improve their own health."

Smart Classrooms
 
Students who have classes in the building enjoy access to the latest classroom technology. Five of the seven classrooms in the building are considered ìsmartî because they have a computer in a podium or on the wall, a ceiling-mounted projector, and a DVD/VCR controlled by a wall unit. In two of the classrooms, students and faculty can write notes on white boards that can be transferred to the Web. This benefits education majors who plan to become teachers, as this technology is now found in several primary and secondary schools around the country.
 
The Department of Theater, which established a major last year due to growth in the program, will also benefit from the technology. "The classrooms with smart technology will be great when we need to show videos and DVDs or play with video projection elements in class projects," said D. Ohlandt, director of theater.

Going Green
 
Ultimately the enhancements made to the building during the renovation benefit the College as a whole. Buchanan Hall is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and more energy efficient than before. New mechanical and electrical systems, including the installation of a new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, will save the College approximately $25,000 a year. "We took a building in rough shape, reused it, and made it compliant with codes and the demands of the College constituency," says David Siebert, director of facilities management.
 
The College is also committed to making the building environmentally friendly by pursuing LEED certification and joining colleges across the country who are building green architecture. Greg Reger '08, a mathematics and religion double major, is the student liaison on the project. Specifically, he must acquire documentation that shows the building meets certain criteria, such as preferred parking for fuel-efficient vehicles, a changing room with showers, a 40 percent reduction of water use through installation of dual flush toilets, 70 percent of electricity provided by renewable energy sources, and that at least 13 percent of materials used in the building are from the region.

 
As president of the student organization League for Environmental Awareness and Protection (LEAP) and student representative to Lake Forest's Environmental Issues and Concerns Committee, he has a strong interest in learning about business practices that improve the environment and helping the College to go green. "It's important for the College to minimize its environmental impact," he says.

Lindsay Beller is the editor of Spectrum.