Throughout Franklin College’s new science center, an atmosphere of excitement and discovery has been building.
Students perform cutting edge research and experimentation in spacious labs and classrooms. They use new mass spectrometers and equipment to perform high-performance liquid chromatography, analyzing materials on a molecular level. Taking advantage of advanced 3-D models, they can virtually study anatomy and dissection of a human cadaver.
In colorful lounges and co-study spaces, students work on projects and interact with professors seamlessly in ways that had never been done before.
"It’s more of a comfortable atmosphere. Since it’s such an open space, walking by, people talk to each other more. There’s that more open space to get to know people," said junior pre-med student Chelsey Arvin. "It feels like a second home for me."
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Franklin College has finished its $17 million science center after nearly two years of work. The project, which included renovating the existing science building and adding a 21,000-square-feet center with labs, classrooms and offices, has become a focal point of the college’s campus.
After changing the curriculum to include more real-world learning, the college now has a facility ensuring students are better prepare for current and future careers in science.
"This is a state-of-the-art educational facility. Students are now learning with the best kind of labs that they can have, and the best kind of learning environments," said Thomas J. Minar, president of Franklin College. "This building is structured to be absolutely at the peak of high-impact practices in delivery of undergraduate education today. This really does modernize the facility to meet the extraordinary characteristics of the curriculum design at Franklin College."
Franklin College will dedicate the new center during a ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Tours of the facility will be given afterwards.
The new science center has been a goal of the college for a number of years. Eight years ago, the school reinvested in its science curriculum to meet the demands of modern industry. The school has launched master’s degree programs in athletic training and physician assistant studies, and opened a graduate health studies center last year.
In 2012, the school started the Campaign for the Sciences, a focused effort to enhance the school’s science program and facilities. Momentum for the fundraising campaign built steadily. On Monday, the school announced it had reached its goal of $10 million.
"It’s a community gathering around important priorities for educating future generations," Minar said. "It’s past generations recognizing the opportunity to pay it back in some ways, and in other ways pay it forward, because our donors are extraordinarily committed to our students and the success of our students in this region and this economy."
In order to offer students the most effective education in the various science disciplines, school officials knew they had to update the existing science building, Barnes Hall. The structure was built in 1927, when science instruction was vastly different, said Steve Browder, biology professor at the college.
The project consisted of building a new 21,000-square-foot addition to Barnes Hall, which started in May 2017. Faculty and students adapted class organization and schedules to allow construction to go on during the school year, and the new addition was done in 2018. At that point, the renovation of Barnes Hall started.
Students and faculty were able to start using both sections in January. The new science center features nearly double the amount of lab space previously available, allowing for more hands-on learning, said biology professor Sarah Mordan-McCombs.
"The labs we had before, we did a lot with what we had. But these allow us better interaction between professor and students, and among the students themselves," she said. "They’re flat-out more functional, and more up-to-date with today’s teaching practices."
The new science center features 12 teaching labs where faculty can provide classroom instruction while students experiment and physically learn the concepts at the same time. Three student research labs are available for advanced projects and long-term research.
"This facilitates a much more interactive arrangement. Students feel like they can integrate with each other and cooperate with each other," Browder said.
Certain labs are equipped with access codes, so students can use the spaces at any time, he added.
"Students can come in at odd hours while still maintaining security," he said.
For Arvin, that feature has been key to maintain her packed 20-hour course load and weekly schedule. She is double-majoring in psychology and cellular and molecular biology, and also works in the center part-time as an assistant in the chemistry and biology labs.
"There are so many study spaces and labs compared to the old (science center). This gives me an opportunity to be here whenever I need to," she said. "I can organize my days the way I need to, and always have the space I need to be working."
School officials also moved the psychology department from its previous home in Old Main to a new section of the science center. The addition of the department to traditional disciplines such as biology and chemistry has added a new energy among staff and students.
"Adding psychology has added a really fun energy to the building that wasn’t there before. They’re a very active department as well, and that’s been a nice addition," Mordan-McCombs said.
Included in the project was $750,000 in funds for new equipment, including a new spectroscope using nuclear magnetic resonance to gauge purity of a sample’s molecular structure. The new center also features a gas chromatography mass spectrometer for separating and measuring complicated samples of gas, and a 70-inch touchscreen system allowing for 3-D cadaver dissection.
Updating the gear that students use every day allows them to ready to work on the types of machines and equipment that they’ll encounter once they enter their professional fields, Mordan-McCombs said.
"That was life-changing. We could get multiples of things where before we only had one. When you have a teaching lab with 20 students, sometimes one is not enough. And we could update to things that were much more real-world similar, so that when students go out into industries, they’re working on machines similar to what they’ve been using here," she said.
The combination of renovated classrooms, more study space and enhanced equipment has made learning an entirely different experience, senior Zac Cleaver said. Whiteboards, smart projectors and other additions have made research and presentations much more efficient.
As a pre-med student, he appreciates the classroom and lab spaces that have been combined seamlessly.
"In the past, we had labs and lectures in different rooms. Now, we have them in the same room, which can be very beneficial for classes such as anatomy and physiology. While we’re learning the details in lectures, we can also use models in the room," Cleaver said. "It’s just an overall nicer, better area."
But beyond being the newest of Franklin College’s buildings, the new science center has become a meeting place for all students, not only those studying science. Ample windows provide natural light throughout the study areas, labs and offices. Bright greens and blues abound throughout the building. A living moss decorative structure stretches from the ground floor three stories up.
Cushioned chairs and high tables are set up for students to work on projects or study in comfort. Outdoor tables, looking out on a courtyard and rain garden, provides a different atmosphere for students to meet.
"The whole design was built so that students could do more in groups and collaboratively, so the way the labs are organized facilitates that, and we built these stations where groups could come together, and faculty could join in them," Browder said. "Before, the classroom and the lab was where you interacted with the students. That’s not really how it is out in the real world."
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Franklin College Science Center
What: Expansion and renovation of the existing Barnes Hall and a 21,000-square-feet addition to better facilitate science education at the college.
Total size: 51,000 square feet
Cost: $17 million
Project started: May 2017
Completed: January 2019
Lab space: 12 teaching labs and three student research labs, with lab space nearly doubled from 8,839 square feet to 16,217 square feet.
Sustainability features: A rain garden to handle 100 percent of the stormwater runoff; open spaces for outdoor classrooms and social events; LED lights in all light fixtures and large windows for more natural light.
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Franklin College Science Center dedication
When: 5:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: The new science center, off of Monroe Street.
The dedication and ribbon cutting is open to the public. Tours of the new facility will be available after the ceremony.
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