Construction began on the D100 building in January after classes were moved from it mid-semester last fall.
The carpets and broken sinks were torn out of the floor and the walls, the ceiling was removed and the walls were scraped to allow for a new coat of paint.
These classrooms had crumbling ceilings and some that previously held science classes had broken sinks and leaking faucets, according to English department chair Wendy Smith.
Two weeks into the semester last fall, the English department created a spreadsheet listing every issue that each classroom had. The Mesa Press was given access to this spreadsheet.
According to that spreadsheet, professors faced constant technology problems, torn curtains which allowed too much light into the classrooms to use the screens and culminated with issues with the HVAC system that made at least two professors sick late in the semester last fall.
School administration conducted tests for mold at some point in the fall that came back clean, although they did not share the results, according to Smith.
The D100 building, the English Village and a classroom in the B building are not in use this semester as the school works on bringing those rooms back to the English department’s standards.
The English department used three classrooms in the D100 building, one classroom in the English Village and four classrooms in the B building last fall.
Smith hopes that the classrooms will be ready for use again by next fall with new carpets, new furniture and new student desks that will allow for a better student experience.
English classes were already in many different buildings, including the math and business-and-technology buildings. The department doesn’t have its own building despite being a subject that all students have to take for any degree program.
The English department will get its own building with grant money from the bill that passed last November, according to Smith. One plan for that building includes a basic needs area for students to get free items that are of necessity. The plan to include that with the English building is because it will be a building that many students will take classes in.
It wasn’t until a group of English professors went to administration and together said that they wouldn’t teach in the D100 building or English Village that they moved the classes and began to work on improving the classrooms.
When a class was moved to room B-102 as an alternative classroom, it faced even more technology issues and a dirty room that had not been taken care of prior. That room also had support beams in the middle of the classroom that blocked students’ views of the projector at the front.
Despite these issues from the English department, the buildings are still in use. A fermentation class in room D-205 continues to meet each Thursday night and the Pride Center, located in room D-102, remains open because neither classroom experienced any issues. Some events are held in room D-101, which is located next door to the Pride Center.
The only issues the Pride Center experienced were with insects and the HVAC unit not working, although they didn’t have any leaks, according to Pride Center counselor coordinator Lucio Lira.
