2008 Woodie Awards
University Apartments, Now Office Space
Social Sciences First to Move
Eitan Kastner
Issue date: 12/6/04 Section: News
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The humanities departments are too large to coordinate an organized move at this time, and the natural sciences need to be in close proximity to their respective labs, leaving the smaller, independent social science departments as the prime candidate for this upgrade. The social science offices are currently spread throughout Belfer Hall and their move will put them all in close vicinity to one another. Subsequently, the move will free up space in Belfer Hall. The newfound space in Belfer Hall will make more room for classrooms and allow the remaining departments to give more of their faculty office space closer to other members of their department and their labs.
Political Science, sociology, economics, and part of the psychology department will be making the move to these newly renovated apartments. The psychology department cannot fully leave the confines of Belfer Hall, as they need to be close to their labs.
The basic layout of these new offices on Laurel Hill will be an office in the place of a bedroom, while the living and dining space will be converted into waiting and reading areas along with a koshered kitchen. The intention is to make a warmer environment for students that wish to meet with professors out of the classroom. The new buildings are intended to have an office for every member of the department so that the awkwardness generated by conversing with a professor who shares his or her office space can be avoided and so the faculty themselves can be more comfortable.
An owner of many buildings in Washington Heights, Yeshiva's new renovation may be heralding in a new expansion program that is desperately needed on a campus that is already pressed for space.
Dr. Ruth Bevan, senior professor of political science, attributes the new renovation to the current administration of President Richard Joel, who only in his second year has already spent some of Yeshiva's surplus on renovating the miniscule old weight room into a respectably sized state of the art fitness center. "He realizes that the university can't pursue a policy of increasing our numbers, student wise and faculty wise, in our given space" said Dr. Bevan.
Dr. Bevan also expressed hopes for further renovation and expansion of Yeshiva owned property to make way for a student center and more office space for the other departments among other developments.