Keck Center opens for fall 2018 semester

Students sit on a a multifunctional staircase in one of the Keck Center’s lobby areas. The stairs face a 90-inch screen that can be used for classwork.

Chapman’s $130 million Keck Center for Science and Engineering was completed June 10 and officially opens for classes Aug. 27. Forty thousand feet of the new 140,000 square-foot building will house Chapman’s new engineering school, to be completed by fall 2020.

The building, which will have its official inauguration Oct. 11, has around 40 research labs and faculty offices. It also houses equipment like a -19-degrees celsius walk-in freezer, a 90-inch television screen in one of its main lobbies that students can connect to using AirPlay, wheelchair-accessible laboratory hoods and clear dry-erase board spaces on each floor, said Sara Buckley, development coordinator for the Schmid College of Science and Technology.

“We’ve used the old equipment for so long. I think having the updated equipment will allow you to be in a real world scenario,” said Kellie Bacon, a junior health sciences major. “The farther you go in your educational career, the more likely they’ll have updated technology that they’re trying out and piloting. It’s beneficial for us to learn them so we have those skills.”

Parking and construction

The expanded parking structure underneath the building will provide an extra 334 parking spaces and 21 electric vehicle charging stations, Buckley said. In September 2017, when 187 spots were removed from the lot due to construction, The Panther monitored how long it took for the Lastinger to fill up on a weekday. It was full by 9:42 a.m.

Construction will continue on the engineering wing of the building while Schmid College of Science and Technology students begin to attend classes in the new facility.

“(The Keck Center) is an expansion that the university drastically needed to encompass the STEM fields,” said Roxy Naumann, a sophomore chemistry major. “It’s a great opportunity for students to collaborate in their own advanced space.”

Rising applications

Applications to Chapman have increased by 7.8 percent since last year, and those to Schmid College increased by nearly 10 percent, Mike Pelly, the vice president and dean of enrollment management, wrote in an email to The Panther.

Over the past five years, there have been more male undergraduate students in Schmid College than female undergraduate students.
But during this time, the gender gap between the two decreased by almost four percent, nearing an almost equal ratio of 10 men to every 9.75 women, according to Chapman’s Institutional Research Office.

From fall 2014 to fall 2016, the percentage of women in Schmid College increased by 4.3 percent – but dropped by 1.3 percent from fall 2017. Information about the percentage of women in Schmid in fall 2018 was not available at the time of publication.

“I think (the increase) is a great thing to hear, especially in a time where the lack of females in STEM is a big topic,” said Frank Entriken, a sophomore physics major. “This is a good sign of progress towards equality in science and research.”

Pelly also wrote that the gender breakdown for admitted Schmid freshmen over the past two years has been around 50 to 50, compared to the incoming freshman class’ 60 to 40 ratio of women to men.

“Enrollment and demand in the sciences at Chapman has been on the rise for several years and that was intentional based on our most recent strategic plan,” Pelly wrote. “(This is) the same strategic plan that resulted in Keck and the Rinker Campus.”

Legionella bacteria

On June 19, campus staff identified Legionella bacteria and removed it before students had access to the Keck Center. Jamie Ceman, Chapman’s vice president of strategic marketing and communications, told The Panther in an email that the bacteria was found in a heating, ventilation and air conditioning tower located on the roof of the building.

The bacteria was came from an outside water source introduced during construction. Staff immediately shut down the unit and began the cleaning process once the bacteria was identified.

The cooling tower is in a contained system, so no other water sources on campus were exposed to the bacteria, and there have been no reported illnesses. As a precaution, all water cooling equipment was tested for bacteria and treated.

Removing the bacteria took several days, and Campus Planning and Operations did not clear the area until three weeks after the bacteria was discovered.