The Observer, August 29, 2008
Volume XLI, Issue 1
Music department expands space into Wade Commons, replacement study areas identified
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Over the summer, current students received a message from interim provost Jerold Goldberg, arts and sciences dean Cyrus Taylor, and vice president of Student Affairs Glenn Nicholls: both the tutoring room and the 24/7 study area in Wade Commons would no longer be available for those purposes.
Due to an urgent need for space, the message continued, the Department of Music would begin use of the rooms as part of Denison Hall – the music facilities that are part of Wade. However, the message did not specifically address what would be done for those students who employed the repurposed space.
Since then, explained Alma Sealine, director of Housing, a great deal of work has gone into quickly and efficiently renovating existing space in Wade Commons. Most of the work centered around changing the previously existing vending room into a new study area, but several resource offices were moved or converted, and the location of public computers was also changed.
Nearly all of the work is now finished, Sealine said, with only some doors still needing to be installed and card access needing to be activated.
But were the changes to Wade really necessary?
Ross Duffin, interim chairman of the music department, has heard that question before. He explained the history of the music department's facilities and its growth.
Duffin explained that what is now Denison Hall (the music department's rehearsal, practice, and storage facilities in Wade Commons) was previously an infirmary that came to be occupied by the music department as a "stopgap" location in 1988. Yet the location became more of a permanent one, with the exception of a slight expansion in 1993 and the installation of four soundproof practice modules in 1998. Possible replacement locations for Denison have been examined since 1995, but have never come to fruition due to financial impediments or logistical problems, Duffin said.
Concerned with the possibility of hearing loss with the members of the large ensembles in an inadequate rehearsal area, among other issues, Duffin contacted the administration in September 2007 to discuss the most straightforward solution, which, he said, was expansion into other areas of Wade. In November, Duffin was made aware that it was possible that the southeast corner of Wade might be made available for music use at some point.
But by later in the spring, Duffin said, "it had become clear to me that we really needed not just the small portion of Wade, but all of it, and further, that any re-purposed part of the building would need renovation that could scarcely be completed before fall semester unless plans were finalized quickly."
In April 2008, he requested that the entirety of Wade be made available for the use of the music department, and also presented an alternate plan in which there was a location for music classes during the day, and tutoring after class hours. On May 23, Duffin was notified that the music department would receive only the previously mentioned southeast portion of Wade, consisting of the tutoring room and 24/7 study area.
Once Sealine was informed of that decision, she said, it was clear that Housing would have to take a step toward reconfiguring the use of space in Wade.
Grace Bell, who is the president of Residence Hall Association and served as RHA's vice president of campus life last year, explained the process of gathering student input. Once RHA became aware of the specific plans that would affect space in Wade Commons, she said, their first obligation was to send a letter to the administration clarifying how students in university housing use that space, even though RHA was not specifically solicited by the administration to provide input on the decision. An initial letter was sent on May 12 to College of Arts and Sciences dean Cyrus Taylor, vice president for student affairs Glenn Nicholls, and university architect Margaret Carney.
RHA had previous statistics that quantified student use of the study rooms in question and wanted to ensure that the administration had plans that would address how to replace what Bell described as "highly used" spaces. These statistics were sent in another letter in June to even more administrators, including president Barbara Snyder and interim provost Jerold Goldberg.
Bell explained that RHA received between 30 and 40 letters from students, expressing opinions that ranged the gamut about what needed to be done to reach an equitable solution for both those involved in music and those who were used to having the study rooms available. A student focus group was organized by Housing, Residence Life, and Greek Life in late June with 13 students invited to participate, with the goal of determining how to best redevelop study space in Wade. Combined, the participants represented Greek life, music majors, supplemental instructors, RHA, UPB, USG, and ensemble members.
Sealine said that the plans for the reconfigured study space students now see when they walk into Wade came directly out of feedback obtained from students in that June focus group.
"The focus group was amazing," said Sealine. "You might think that with so many groups represented that the discussions would have been contentious, but that wasn't the case…they listened to each other."
"I give credit to the students; they really came up with the fix," she said.
For many students on campus, it was not a secret that some action had to be taken to provide some relief to cramped space in Denison. "We knew that music needed the space," Bell said.
"We had grown from about 50 music majors at the end of the 90s to 110 majors [by 2007]," said Duffin. "Our band of 40 had grown to 120, in addition to a wind ensemble of 40, a marching band of 100, an orchestra of 100, a second orchestra of 60, two jazz bands, [a] percussion ensemble, and a concert choir of 60, not to mention 250 high school musicians who make the 'pilgrimage' to Denison every Saturday for the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony under Dr. [Gary] Ciepluch."
Duffin also pointed out the "highly active student groups, like Footlighters, Solstice, and many others that use Denison at all hours as the only suitable ensemble rehearsal space."
"Each week, we also host 10 music theory classes, various jazz classes, as well as numerous music education methods classes –all in the same space designed for 40 band members in 1988."
Duffin believes it is a misconception that student input was not taken into account with the Wade decision. "There was tremendous student input," he said. "Students have long been making clear to me and various ensemble directors that the Denison rehearsal facilities are 'a joke,' as the most frequent characterization goes. Virtually every student participating in ensembles, music major or non-, has come from a high school that has better rehearsal facilities than we do."
Though the new space for music is only around one third of what Duffin had identified as being needed, "Everybody is still excited for this," he said. The new space allows for simultaneous ensemble rehearsals, as well as opportunities for ensembles to perform jointly that were not possible before. In addition, students previously had to pass through an open rehearsal hall to access back practice rooms. A new hallway will prevent rehearsing ensembles from being disrupted.
"RHA is very pleased that an equitable solution could be reached for the time being," Bell said. Housing was also pleased with the overall outcome of the student focus group and the result of the Wade repurposing in general, given the space limitations constraining many of the sides involved.
"I would like to reiterate,"Bell said, "that the staff in the Office for Student Affairs, especially Glenn Nicholls and Sue Nickel-Schindewolf, the provost, and members of Housing went to great lengths this summer to include students in the discussion process."
As she explained, "We are a city campus," which places limitations on space resources.
Despite that, "I believe that the work of the student leaders and university staff in regard to Wade shows extreme promise in our ability to work together and to solve upcoming university issues," Bell said. She added that students interested in becoming involved with RHA should visit rha.case.edu and run for RHA community councils in the elections being held Sept. 4 and 5. Sealine said that housing is still looking at addressing some noise concerns, but she feels that the end result of the Wade repurposing is, in some ways, "win-win."
"In some cases, I think we are making better use of space now than before," Sealine said, offering the movement of the vending machines as an example.
With regard to the expansion of music facilities in Wade being a short-term solution, Duffin made clear that the short-term is "relative."
"If I told you that the time from the identification of a major donor to the completion of a Performing Arts Center would be about seven years," Duffin said, "and that being fourth in the fourth section of Goal II [in Case's new University Plan] and perhaps years from taking the first step towards construction, we are probably at least 10 years out from eliminating our need for Wade, would you still call Music's expansion into Wade a temporary solution?"
