Updates to bring class space to Tillett

To address the issue of classroom shortages on campus, the University is expanding Livingston Campus’ Tillett Hall with updated spaces for students.

The renovations, which will cost a projected $13.5 million, are slated for a fall 2013 completion, said Antonio Calcado, vice president of University Facilities and Capital Planning.

The alterations will transform the old cafeteria into 16 new, state of the art lecture halls and classrooms along with a few computer labs, Calcado said.

“We had space after we built a new dining hall and we really do have an issue with trying to provide enough classroom space and enough up-to-date classroom space, so we took the opportunity of reprogramming that space into student-centric space,” he said.

Classroom space is a big issue on campus, said Patrick Melillo, executive assistant of the Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.

“The biggest issue is we increased our number of undergraduates dramatically in the last 15 years but classrooms have not dramatically increased,” he said. “We haven’t increased the number of classrooms prior to the Tillett renovations in any significant way since 1988 and any significant way before that [since] 1963.”

Most of the new rooms in Tillett will be large classrooms, Melillo said.

“Since [the shape of Tillett] is a big square, there are a lot of windows,” he said. “So it was pretty easy to make sure they have windows but we also needed a couple of large classrooms without windows specifically designed for viewing film and other things like that.”

The new rooms will be equipped with digital technology, up-to-date sound systems, wireless systems and other necessities that students would require, Calcado said.

“It would put students in state-of-the-art classrooms that are new and it would certainly help faculty in that it’s a space [that is] friendly for them to be able to put on a lecture that is certainly meaningful in many different ways,” he said.

Melillo said the overall planning process took about two to three years, as his colleagues planned out everything from class sizes to the number of windows.

The newly renovated Tillett Hall would improve the standards and conditions of the classrooms on campus, most of which are not as updated compared to other universities, Melillo said.

“You know we have classrooms that are just run down and outdated,” he said. “We try very hard to make sure we get those classrooms out of circulation as quickly as possible and bought back up to speed. In all fairness, we do have classrooms that desperately need work.”

Ruvice Tsague, a School of Engineering senior, said he believes the changes are purely beneficial.

“It’ll make the students more at ease and comfortable and this will enable them to focus more on learning and also enable them to familiarize themselves with the professor more, which hopefully would have a positive effect on their grades,” he said.

Melody Wong, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said the defunct cafeteria is unnecessary now that the campus has the newer Livingston Dining Commons.

“I think … the new Tillett classrooms will benefit Rutgers students and the future of the ever-expanding student body,” she said.

Melillo said the University is periodically refurbishing its old classrooms through a program that looks at what updates can be made every four years.

“We are going to do a quarter of classrooms … the first year was last year so we entirely took out all of the old technology and brought in new technology,” he said. “So every four years, the classroom that was done four years ago gets redone in terms of technology.”

Melillo said growing undergraduate programs and the rise in the University’s reputation internationally and locally have produced an influx of students.

The new changes in Tillett will help buy time and space until the University constructs more space for classes to meet.

“Tillett’s going to be a silver bullet for us for a little while … until 2015 when a new classroom building is built on College Avenue campus,” he said. “Tillett’s a major problem solver for the meantime, and in terms of a long-term plan, solving space problems."