A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E - Colby-Sawyer College

Old Science Labs House New Technology
Reichhold Hall science labs renovated to accommodate new
computer classrooms
by Jessica K. McLavey ’10
With Colby-Sawyer’s student body setting new enrollment records
each year, the demand for more study space and classroom facilities has
increased. Recently, professors and students alike have expressed interest
in classrooms in which more than 25 students can use computers simultaneously
for research, exams and group study. The graphic design and
other fine arts programs have experienced unparalleled student interest
in recent years, increasing the need for a specialty computer lab in addition
to the iMac lab in the Sawyer Fine and Performing Arts Center. In
response, two new computer labs in Reichhold Hall, the former science
building, have been created.
During summer 2009, workers refurbished two of the older laboratory
classrooms in Reichhold. After weeks of retiling, waxing, painting,
tearing out fumigation hoods, and lugging out old lab benches, the
rooms were transformed into attractive, efficient spaces holding a total
of 42 computers.
Professor of Fine and Performing Arts Nick Gaffney, who helped
organize the layout of the new lab and select the computer and software
equipment, says, “In some ways the new lab is superior to the
one in the Sawyer Center. The screens are larger and the computers
were installed with newer software. However, the computers in Sawyer
Center are perfectly usable and can do most things the new ones can.
I think the largest problem the new lab solves is simply providing
additional high-powered computers for students to use.”
The new iMac lab, with 12 new 24-inch computers along with a
scanner, projector and laser printer, is on the first floor of Reichhold.
Here, video, photography and graphic design students can use specialty
programs such as Final Cut and the Adobe Creative Suite to create
professional quality projects and gain experience using the programs
they will depend on in their careers. The classroom also dedicates an
area to a small photography studio where students can shoot and
upload images to the computers just a few steps away.
Deborah Campbell, an adjunct faculty member in the Fine and
Performing Arts Department, shares her enthusiasm for the learning
environment the new lab provides, explaining, “The new iMacs are
so nice to use, and the large screens make it much easier to work on
projects. Also, the state-of-the-art projection station makes it easy for
the professor to provide demon strations for the class.”
Just down the hall from the iMac lab is the second refurbished classroom.
It contains 30 computers recycled from faculty desks (the faculty
received new Energy Star-compliant and EPEAT Gold-certified computers
that are part of Colby-Sawyer’s sustainability initiative). This space
serves as the new IR lab, but professors from every program are able to
reserve the classroom for use. The lab meets the need for a new space
where more than 25 students can get together and work simultaneously
on separate computers. One department that will benefit from the
addition of this lab is Nursing, as an increasing amount of the information,
programs, and exams the students need to access are web-based.
The lab’s potential is limitless, as it will also be helpful to any class that
wishes to use the computers for mid-term or final exams.
12 COLBY-SAWYER ALUMNI MAGAZINE