Around Campus

Index:

- Brooks gains elbow room
- Build it and they will run, jump and throw
- UNF Hall offers a moving experience

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Brooks gains elbow room

By Tom Cain

The School of Nursing and Student Health Services will have plenty of much-needed space in their new homes at the recently completed Brooks College of Health Addition. And that's not just office space. They'll occupy entire floors in their new digs.

The School of Nursing will occupy the third and fourth floors of the $12 million addition. They previously occupied parts of three floors at the Brooks College of Health. At one time, some of the program's faculty and staff were housed in portables.

"We are excited and can't wait," said Dr. Li Loriz, director of the School of Nursing. "The building is beautiful. We really wanted to get a warm, earthy feel to the building. I believe the architect was able to accomplish this. It certainly will be nice to have a place to call home."

Loriz said the new space would enable the school to introduce new technology and methods into classroom instruction. Thirty-six faculty and staff are moving into the new wing. Loriz said the School of Nursing expects to be in the new facility Aug. 20.

The facility will have a laboratory for human simulators, which are mannequins computer-programmed to react like human beings so that their condition changes as nursing students work with them. An observation area with video equipment will allow instructors to record the students' interactions with the simulators.

Faculty members will have their own offices instead of sharing, which was often the case in the past. There will be areas for students to congregate and relax between classes. Meeting rooms will also be available on the third and fourth floors. Loriz said the meeting rooms are essential for communication and organization related to the community-based component of the School of Nursing.

Doreen Perez, director of Student Health Services, said she and her staff are also looking forward to moving into the new addition. "We have anticipated the move to a new center for many years," Perez said. "This new space represents years of planning and fund saving." Student Health Services, with 11 full-time and four part-time employees, will occupy the entire second floor of the College of Health addition. The department will now have 8,900 square feet of space, which is nearly triple the amount they had in the Robinson Center, their home for the last 20 years.

The number of examination rooms will double from five to 10. The new space will also have an x-ray imaging room, a lab and procedure room and a travel health clinic. SHS also expects to move in Aug. 20.

Construction on the four-story, 60,000-square- foot Brooks College of Health addition began in June of last year. The addition will have four classrooms on the bottom floor.

Zak Ovadia, director of Facilities Planning and Construction, said the work was completed ahead of schedule. PPI Construction built the addition, Ponikvar and Associates were the architects and Rich Elmore of UNF served as the project manager.

Ovadia said the addition is the third LEED-certified building on campus. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED program certification is awarded to buildings utilizing design and construction practices that significantly reduce or eliminate any negative environmental impacts.

Build it and they will run, jump and throw

By Dave Roman

UNF Track Coach Mark Van Alstyne now has his own "Field of Dreams," or Track and Field of Dreams, to be exact. With workers putting the finishing touches on UNF's new $2.6 million Mondo rubbized track, Van Alstyne is looking forward to hosting the 2009 Atlantic Sun Men's and Women's Track and Field Championships next May 15-16.

In addition, UNF's head cross country and track and field coach for the past 19 years said Hodges Stadium will host a UNF Spring Break Invitational March 6 and a UNF Classic April 18.

Van Alstyne said UNF had the track built to the specifications necessary to achieve certification by the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the world governing body for track and field. UNF will have one of about a half-dozen tracks in the United States with that certification . The new facility is also similar to the Olympic track in Beijing.

"The Hodges Stadium Track and Field, with its various support elements, will ultimately place the young University of North Florida Athletics program in the national spotlight," said Dr. Richard E. Gropper, UNF Athletics director. "Additionally, the entire First Coast region will reap the benefits of a strong annual economic impact and ongoing national exposure."

Van Alstyne said the total package is what makes UNF's facility unique. Hodges Stadium seats nearly 10,000 spectators, has a full sports medicine facility, locker rooms, a new $991,000 press box and a warm-up track. He said the warm-up track would be especially useful during meets with 4,000 to 5,000 competitors.

"I could see us doing something like that here, and who knows what happens down the line," Van Alstyne said. "I think it's just a great venue. Jacksonville is a great location. The facility is eight miles from the beach. We've got tons of hotel space for teams now. I hate to roll out the cliché, if you build it they will come, but I really think that they are going to come. I really think everyone is going to want to come to Jacksonville and run in this facility in Hodges Stadium."

In addition to meets, Van Alstyne said Hodges Stadium would host northern teams seeking a respite from the snow and a warm place to work out during spring break. He said a team from Maine has already booked time on the new track.

"I could see UNF hosting 20 to 30 teams through the month of March and early April," he said. "Teams escaping the snow, coming to Florida to train, to have a little fun, get some work done and compete a couple of times."

Van Alstyne said he expects the track to "totally transform our recruiting." He said Division I has become a recruiting arms race, with every university trying to one-up the other. UNF now finds itself in a good position in that competition.

"No one will have a better facility on their campus than we do," he said.

UNF Hall offers a moving experience

By Tom Cain

Two Department of Athletic Training and Physical Therapy research labs are the first University units to move into UNF Hall in phase 1 of a $6.8 million remodeling project that will involve moving nearly 20 departments and offices and more than 400 employees.

"My goal is by July 1 of 2009 to have remodeled the building and moved people into permanent spaces," said Dirk van Luling, project manager in the Facilities Planning and Construction Office. UNF Hall was formerly a customer-service call center for Internet provider America Online before being purchased by UNF.

Dr. Rose Marie Rine, a research professor in the Department of Athletic Training and Physical Therapy, and the five-person staff of her Vestibular Balance and Gait Laboratory moved to UNF Hall from Hodges Stadium in early July.

The lab, in the north wing of UNF Hall, houses more than $400,000 of equipment, which is used to test balance, movement, motor development and inner-ear function. One of Rine's current projects involves vestibular-related impairments in young children. Vestibular or inner-ear disorders can cause a myriad of problems including dizziness, vertigo and the inability to maintain balance.

"The new lab space at UNF Hall is a wonderful move for my research endeavors," Rine said. "The work we do involves recruitment of adults and children from the community. The new space is quite accommodating, easily accessible and allows UNF to put its best foot forward. The access and facilities provide excellent opportunities for completion and growth of the health-research efforts."

It took five weeks to remodel the spaces for Rine's lab and an adjoining Department of Athletic Training and Physical Therapy lab.

The transformation of the space the labs occupy is striking. The area has gone from a wide-open space with row after row of abandoned cubicles from the America Online days to an attractive, well-lighted space with freshly painted walls and brand-new carpeting.

"In addition to remodeling office space, we are going to open up the main corridors in both wings [north and south] by removing the lockers and enlarging the glass openings so it now becomes glass from floor to ceiling," van Luling said. "This will allow visitors walking down the corridors to more easily find each department." The lockers van Luling referred to are holdovers from when AOL owned the building.

The remodeling work at UNF Hall will literally go from ceiling to floor. The initial phase to create the spaces for the two labs involved 25 painters, electricians, drywall hangers, frame carpenters, carpet layers and laborers. Some of the work was done after 5 p.m. so the noise wouldn't disturb UNF employees working in UNF Hall, van Luling said.

The following list provided by van Luling includes locations and scheduled move-in dates for the offices and departments going to or, in some cases, moving within UNF Hall:

Athletic Training and Physical Therapy research labs, first floor, north wing, moved in July 3. The move-in date for the following departments is December: Purchasing Department, second floor, north wing; Training and Services Institute Accounting, second floor, north wing; Controller's Office, second floor, north wing; Enrollment Services executive suite, second floor, north wing; Enrollment Services, first floor, north wing; One Stop Welcome Center, first floor, north wing; Cashier's Office, first floor, south wing; State Auditor, first floor, south wing.

In March 2009, the following offices will move in: Vice Presidential Suite (Administrative Affairs), second floor, south wing; Treasurer's Office, second floor, south wing; Budget Office, second floor, south wing; Financial Systems Department, second floor, south wing Office of Internal Audit, second floor, south wing.

The College of Health Residency Program, first floor, south wing, will move in April 2009, while the move-in date for Information Technology Services, second floor, south wing (expansion and remodeling of current space) as well as the English Language Program, first floor, south wing (temporary space off cafeteria), is May 2009. The Center for Community Initiatives, second floor, north wing, and The Graduate School, second floor, south wing, will move June 2009.

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