Let’s face it — some Queen’s classrooms are in desperate need of a touch-up, which makes Queen’s recent allocation of $3 million to repairing classrooms a very welcomed venture.
A good learning environment is essential to the student experience. While beautiful on the outside, many of Queen’s buildings have neglected interiors that provide a depressing classroom environment.
It’s true that some programs require expensive, shiny equipment, but it’s beneficial for Queen’s to take into account that other programs still require, at the bare minimum, adequate heating, lighting and furniture.
The discrepancy on campus between fancy glass buildings that glow with prosperity, and dank, concrete basements, can often be explained by differences in alumni donations or funding priorities.
But the campus has reached a point where a basic levelling of the playing field is in order before some spaces reach the point of no return. For instance, the JDUC was left unimproved for so long that in the long-term it will cost far more than the current $1.2 million revitalization project to repair it.
It’s also promising that the University is garnering student feedback for this project, as students can better speak to classroom conditions than administrators.
In the long term, it will take more than a $3 million investment into the University’s infrastructure to comfortably accommodate the rise in enrolment.
But, in the meantime, if we improve classrooms with peeling paint and broken projectors, we’ve taken a step forward.
Tags
$3 million, Classrooms, renovations
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