Social-work building lags behind

    For Sara Dictor, sitting in her three-hour class this winter will require her to bundle up in a warm coat. The heating system is broken in a building where she attends classes.
    Dictor also has to worry about trying to see her professor and being able to read the board to copy notes, because – in a few of her possible classrooms – columns stand in the middle of the room.
    Being a student in the School of Social Work gives Dictor no other option, as all but two classes for social-work students are held in Raleigh Building.
    “It’s frustrating when you see the new business building, and you come here and there aren’t enough seats for everyone,” Dictor said.
    The School of Social Work has utilized the Raleigh building since the late 1960s, according to Dr. Marcia Harrigan, the interim associate dean of the department.
    Four of the six classrooms have the “SMART” technology, Harrigan says, much like what is used in Hibbs and Grace E. Harris halls. However, in Raleigh, the bathrooms are outdated, the building needs a new roof, the only computer lab available to around 300 students consists of three computers, and overcrowding is abundant, Harrigan said.
    “The oil water hot heaters don’t work in the basement, and    I’m on my second window unit in my office,” Harrigan said.
    Also, mold is growing in the basement, because of previous years’ hurricanes, according to Harrigan, and is a health hazard to those who have classes there.
    While the administration hasn’t done much to improve the situation yet, there are plans for a possible improvement.
    Two graduate students in the social-work program went to the Student Government Association this past spring for assistance in pressuring the administration to provide the school with a new building, Harrigan said.
    “(The graduate students) headed up an effort to survey students and to advocate a new building,” Harrigan said.
    The SGA then passed a bill in support of improving the conditions for the School of Social Work, stating, “There is a disparity between the academic facilities … and the ‘fertile and stimulating environment for learning’ that the University claims to provide.”
    According to Harrigan, the administration announced around that time it would be looking into the affordability of a new building where the VV parking lot is located currently. The third and fourth floors would be given to the School of Social Work to be shared with the English department.
    Even with these problems, Dictor said she still sees the positive.
    “It may not be as good as other buildings, but it’s also a historic building,” Dictor said.