This semester, students at California State University, East Bay found a massive renovation project beginning in the middle of campus. There are large fences enclosing the area across from the Old University Union and trucks can be seen entering and exiting the construction zone multiple times every day.
The construction crew will eventually create a new, three-story, core building that will help students focused on entrepreneurship and innovation. The building will house programs that will allow students to expand on their ideas creatively. The project will, hopefully, be finished by February 2022.
Questions that arose about the environmental impact this could possibly have on campus were quickly addressed.
“The infrastructure does not impact our campus environmentally, not that I am aware of,” said Dr. Jason Singley, the Dean of the Science department at CSUEB.
Further questions arose regarding the science department’s funding and how it could be affected by the construction.
“The budget from the science department is not being affected at all, and the department is not facing any issues currently,” Singley said, “please communicate with your professors and let them know if you have any issues or concerns. No classes are going to be impacted for next semester.”
“The construction does not affect the campus environment at all in our department, [and] our budget is not being hindered at all,” Dr. Luz Calvo, chair of the ethnic studies department said.
“Furthermore,” Calvo added, “my department has not had to make any adjustments to restructure the department or any areas in the long-term or short-term. On the other hand, we have told professors to be patient with students because [some] students have to walk from one side of campus to another.”
Debbie Chaw, Vice President for Administration and Finance as well as Chief Financial officer, said the library has some deficiencies and provides the same library services, while also implementing newer technology.
Of the $103 million needed to complete the project, 90 percent came from CSUEB bonds from capital projects.
“The construction got delayed by 10 months because they were waiting to get the state fire marshal approval,’’ Chaw added. “[The construction] may increase the cost over time.”
Secondly, Chaw stated that this infrastructure would benefit faculty and students, so they can have a quiet, collaborative workspace.
In addition she also stated that the board of trustees approved the new infrastructure project. Therefore, they are a year behind with this project since April 2019, right now they are working on clearing the territory around Meiklejohn Hall.
Currently, there is no plan to deal with relocating students when the noise from the construction increases. While there have not been complaints, Chaw assumes there will be complaints in the near future.