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Construction, new faces, priorities greet fall 2001
29 August 2001
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New construction, more plentiful student housing, and some big campus plans for the new academic year greeted students starting school this week, Chancellor Berdahl told reporters at an Aug. 23 back-to-school briefing at the Women’s Faculty Club. “It’s the most exciting time of year around here, and there are many things that we will be paying special attention to on campus this year,” Berdahl told reporters, who gathered to chat informally with him, key administrators and ASUC leaders about campus activities and priorities for the new academic year. More than $200 million in construction to provide new student housing, renovate classroom and lab space and improve the seismic safety of campus buildings is under way in Barrows, Hildebrand, Latimer, Barker and Wurster halls, Berdahl said. Work also continues to retrofit and renovate the campus’s historic Hearst Memorial Mining Building. Berdahl emphasized work being done to promote fire safety, a city-campus collaboration to educate renters and ensure that no student moves into housing that is not equipped with a working smoke detector. The effort was galvanized by two tragic fires last year, one occurring just as students were moving in, and both of which hit the campus and community hard. Berdahl and campus administrators initiated a program last year to work with local agencies, community leaders and landlords to ensure students are housed in safe environments. The year won’t be without its struggles, Berdahl noted, including the challenge of addressing staff workload issues and redesigning the staff job classification and compensation system, as recommended by a campus report issued in May. This year’s state budget sets aside only 2 percent for salary increases, far below the mark requested by the campus. To be competitive, the report said, the campus needs to raise staff salaries significantly over the next several years.
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