The new building seems to already be too small based on observations about the existing floorplan, and we're still several years away from transitioning into it.What can be done about it? (I have no idea what the issue should be...perhaps someone would like to share their thoughts about space and the new building?)
-- Alan Su, February 22, 2000
One issues is whether or not to have labs based on research area or whether to have general labs where students from different areas share space. The advantage of general labs is that grad students in different research areas are more likely to share and exchange ideas when they share space. (i'm not advocating one position or another, i've heard arguments from people both ways.)
-- karan bhatia, February 24, 2000
Here is the first version of the space response. There's a line for statistics. I'm going to try to get those from Julie or someone else. Here it is:\section {Building Space}
The review committee's report dicusses the current lack of space in the department. This is indeed a widespread problem within many of the labs. Additionally, the lack of common space has also been noted around the department. There is a prevailing impression that the new building will ameliorate the current spacce problems. However, the report correctly points out that this space falls short the minimum amount of space allocated to top departments. While we may or may not wish to become a top ten department, the amount of space we have available is only relevant to whether we wish to approach these departments in size. With the current rates of admissions to both the undergraduate and graduate divisions this lack of space may be a serious issue. *some stats about current assignable space and current growth of dept.* We are concerned that the future building may be too small at move in time. The lack of expansion plans for the new building further these concerns.
Another concern that the graduate students have is how the new space will be divided. While there have been some meetings regarding this, it appears that nothing has been decided. This important issue must be resolved before building design progresses too far, since building layout will be important to future organization of the department.
-- Leeann Bent, February 28, 2000