It’s been eight years since Academic Hall room 411, a chemistry lab, saw substantial upgrades to its facilities.
AH 411 — which was renovated in 2017 — is equipped with two fume hoods, two projector screens, pressurized and vacuuming air nozzles, various chemistry glassware, and numerous other pieces of chemistry equipment.
To Kristy Long, a senior lecturer at Point Park, the lab is a “nice space.”
“My lab [411] is beautiful,” Long said. “It’s functional; it has everything we need.”
Her CHEM103 students were immersed in a simple titration experiment, which entailed them neutralizing hydrochloric acid by slowly adding sodium hydroxide.
But a floor above, in AH 511, the biology lab “looks substantially older,” according to a biology professor. The professor wished to remain anonymous to avoid retribution.
Inside the lab, various jarred specimens, skulls, chemicals and other equipment littered counters and cabinets.
And most of the items appeared aged: Some chemicals appeared to be out of date and sat in stained bottles. Most cabinet doors were painted a drab orange and had old masking tape on them to label their contents.
The lab in 511 also lacks many of the same facilities in 411, namely its air nozzles. The equipment that 511 does have is considerably more worn than that of 411.
Lou Corsaro, a university spokesperson, said officials could not find an exact date for when 511 was last upgraded. The biology professor estimated the lab might not have seen any major improvements for roughly 35 years.
Dr. Becky Spritz, dean of Arts and Sciences, is aware of the conditions in AH 511. She said her current focus is taking stock of what chemicals and equipment the lab needs, and removing the “legacy waste” — or out-of-date materials and equipment — from the lab.
“There are definitely some things that we need to update,” Spritz said. “Some things that are really important for our students.” She also clarified that there was nothing in the lab that would be a danger to students.
But Spritz also has plans for tangible upgrades.
She said she hopes to implement student ID scanners for all labs in Academic Hall, which will only allow credentialed students to enter — similar to the existing photo lab on its fourth floor.
When the scanners are built, Spritz said, students will be able to use the labs on weekends. Currently, they stay locked after hours for safety purposes.
AH 511 itself will be getting a pseudo-upgrade, with its adjacent 512 office expected to be overhauled into a prep room for lab exercises, Spritz said. She did not give any specifics on what would be upgraded.
“Those were two kind of low hanging fruit[s],” Spritz said, “. . . We know that the big overhaul is what we want to do, but if we can do some of those renovations — and [buy] some of the smaller equipment pieces — we can get closer.”
Spritz said one of the first things she did when she was brought on as dean of Arts and Sciences was assembling a “wish list” of needed lab equipment from biology faculty.
At the top of that list was a slide viewer for use in genetics labs, but Spritz didn’t specify any other requested items.
“I think that the faculty have heard me that I’m really committed to this,” Spritz said. “And the work we’ve been doing over the summer indicates that.”
But a real upgrade to AH 511 is “going to be a marathon, and not a sprint,” Spritz said.
“To be perfectly honest, we don’t have a full plan for overhaul of the labs right now,” Spritz said. “Because it’s such an expensive proposition.”
She said she had a “three-pronged approach” to funding future upgrades for Natural Science and Engineering (NSE) program facilities.
The first is utilizing the program’s existing operational budget. Spritz also hopes to get a funding boost from the upcoming Day of Giving fundraiser on Nov. 6, and from grants to fund future faculty projects.
“We’re in a tough time for grant funding, for sure, given our political climate,” Spritz said. “So, that’s not likely to happen quickly, but I think that between the three strategies it’s a long-term approach.”
