Science & Technology - Campaign for Pacific

Science andTechnology

Complex

Campaign for Pacific

IMAGINE, INSPIRE, innovate & ENGAGE

1pacificu.edu/campaign

Fundraising Goal: $20 Million

At Pacific University, we share a determination to help young men and women understand themselves, as well as the world in which they live. A strong undergraduate curriculum that supports science, mathematics and technology education in the liberal arts tradition will assist students in

achieving their aspiration and potential as future scientists, teachers and healthcare providers.

In the early years, when the University first began teaching science, it would have been

difficult to predict the changes ahead for both the study of science and the challenges of

teaching in the 21st Century. In the University’s 160-year history, scientific discoveries have

had an astonishing affect on the world, especially as scientists continue to unlock genetic

codes, as new medicines are developed to cure disease and as computers and technology

have transformed the way we communicate and interact with one another.

In this same period, Pacific has emerged as a respected research university with a strong

emphasis in liberal arts, optometry, health professions and education. With a shared vision

for an expanded Science and Technology Complex augmenting already-existing facilities,

Pacific is poised to be a science and technology innovator, positioned for successful and

sophisticated strategies for educating the next generation of scientists.

Science and Technology Complex

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The planned expansion of science facilities on the Pacific campus will facilitate interdepartmental

research while supporting the emergence of new disciplines. This new facility will feature

flexible laboratory and classroom space and will promote innovative pedagogies, including

workshop and inquiry-based learning as well as interdisciplinary collaboration.

Commitment to both teaching and scholarship combine in the undergraduate setting to provide

a first-rate education for students in science, mathematics and technology. Committed faculty

members teach to increase their students’ hands-on connections to the sciences, mathematics

and technology. Faculty view their own professional activities with an eye to the impact such

activities can have on their teaching.

PHASE I SITE PLAN | A 32,000 square foot structure will be built directly behind Murdock Hall. The greenhouse will be relocated behind McGill Auditorium. This phase will also enclose the Barbara Story Memorial Garden and connect with the Douglas C. Strain Science Center.

PHASE II SITE PLAN | Murdock Hall will be demolished to make way for a new 25,000 square foot building that will connect to Phase I. Bridge connectors between the new building and Strain Hall will also be constructed. And finally a connection between Strain and Henry Price Hall will be built to merge all four buildings into one unified complex.


Successful faculty are those who understand that undergraduate students play an important

role in the intellectual community of learners. Learning is not a unidirectional endeavor, but

one in which faculty learn new ways of looking at old questions from the students they teach.

As a major component of the Campaign for Pacific, $20 million of the fundraising goal will

be apportioned to construct a new state-of-the-art Science and Technology Complex and to

eventually renovate current facilities to augment this new technologically rich building.

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Current FacilitiesThe burgeoning science zone on campus features three buildings that house biology, chemistry,

computer science, environmental science, mathematics and physics. As the campus’ enrollment

continues to increase—500 students and 30 faculty members in the last ten years—so too

does the interest in natural sciences, making this division the largest within the College of Arts

& Sciences. Over 50 percent of incoming first-year students select pre-health or the natural

sciences as their first choice of major. We have simply outgrown our science facilities.

Murdock Hall, completed in 1981, houses half of the chemistry department and the

125-seat McGill Auditorium, named in honor of Dr. Charles and Edith Hanson McGill, both

members of the class of 1930. The laboratories and classrooms are obsolete and must

be updated to facilitate an inquiry-based learning environment and to accommodate our

burgeoning faculty-student research program. Originally designed for three chemists, we will

have seven in fall 2011.

The Douglas C. Strain Science Center was finished in 1993. Named in honor of former

trustee Douglas Strain, founder of Electro Scientific Industries (ESI), the building currently

houses the other half of chemistry and the biology, environmental science and physics

departments. Future renovation plans call for developing an interdisciplinary faculty-student

research cluster on each floor, fronted by four faculty offices.

Finally, Henry Price Hall, built in 1987, is home to the mathematics department. The first floor

is also occupied by the College of Optometry’s Vision Performance Institute, which has close ties

to undergraduate research and research taking place with faculty in the Physics Department.

Plans call for the Vision Performance Institute to be co-located with the College of Optometry

on the Health Professions Campus and for the Physics Department to occupy the vacated space.

Together, these facilities have served the science education needs of the University. Today they

lack the space, equipment and flexibility for future needs to advance science teaching, learning

and research.

LEADERS, THINKERS, ENTREPRENEURS, SCIENTISTS, ACADEMICS AND INVENTORS

Today, thanks to their exposure to the sciences and technology, Pacific graduates are accepted

by the nation’s best medical and graduate schools, including Stanford, Cal Tech, UC Berkeley,

Duke and many others. They become leaders in every scientific field—from health professions

to engineering, and from industry to education. These graduates are fundamentally immersed

in the advancement of science and technology.


INNOVATION IN THE CLASSROOM

A smart new pedagogy has evolved at Pacific University, making us the leader in adopting and

developing new ways of teaching science. For example, faculty members no longer lecture

in general chemistry. Instead, students engage in inquiry-based learning, working in small

groups on assigned problems. The teacher and peer tutor circulate among the groups, answer

questions, challenge understandings and point out novel solutions to the rest of the class.

In this new model, knowledge is not simply transmitted but must be constructed by the learner

through social interactions, both with the professor and other students. Students actively

engaged in constructing their own knowledge learn the material and retain it much better

than in a lecture environment. With this classroom methodology, knowledge retention more

than doubles. See graph below.

The successful model has a classroom setup that promotes active engagement by students

and faculty members. That setup includes a set of small tables equipped with a laptop

computer for each working group and whiteboards and projectors for each wall. Our current

facilities do not have nearly enough of this kind of classroom space. The new facility will

include several of these classrooms to expand inquiry-based learning to all introductory

science classes.

GAIN

0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Tutorial/Cooperative Work

Traditional Lecture

WP at Dickinson College

PACIFIC UNIVERSITY

Workshop Physics (WP)

Inquiry-based Learning*

*Data reproduced from Saul and Redish | Final Report for FIPSE Grant #P116P50026

Research shows that students learn far more and retain the information much better when they construct their own knowledge. This is best accomplished with

inquiry-based instruction, which we have used for many years at Pacific University.

Students have only an 18 percent increase in knowledge and retention in a lecture forum and more than a 70 percent increase in an inquiry-based model.

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Vision for the FutureBy the time Pacific was established on the West Tualatin Plains in 1859, Charles Darwin and

Alfred Russell Wallace had not yet published their theory of evolution through natural selection.

The field of genetics was just beginning to be understood a decade later, and it would be

another hundred years before Watson and Crick’s discovery of double-helix DNA—the basis

for molecular biology. Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity was published in 1915. And

Edwin Hubble’s law of the expanding universe was released in 1929. As you can imagine,

the advancement of science moves rapidly, spinning off new fields of study at an accelerated

rate. Consider that the 20th century laboratory included tools such as Bunsen burners, slide

rules, weighted balances and achromatic microscopes. Today, students use DNA sequencing,

electron microscopy, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and mass spectrometry in their laboratory

experiments. Modern-day laboratory equipment is fundamental to the teaching of science and

student-faculty research and is an important aspect of teaching in today’s curriculum.

In order to build upon the University’s strong tradition of teaching and research, and to maintain

excellence across the curriculum, Pacific is embarking on a major investment to expand its current

science facilities. Once completed, this ambitious new Science and Technology Complex will

provide the following.

n Improved and expanded space for teaching and research.

n Enhanced opportunities for faculty-student interaction within and across disciplines.

n Adaptable spaces that accommodate laboratory classes and high-quality research regardless of discipline.

n Flexible space to allow for future changes in science pedagogy and research.

n Upgraded building systems that will meet LEED Gold sustainability standards and reduce operational costs.

n Unification of existing and new facilities that will reinforce that Pacific has a top-rated science and technology program.

The new Science and Technology Complex will provide students and their mentors the space

they need to hypothesize, observe, explore, experiment and discover. Research labs will provide

space for the University’s talented teachers and mentors to pursue their own scholarly research,

while also supporting enhanced student research through the advanced laboratory space

available to them.


Pacific’s plan to construct the new Science and Technology Complex will take place in

two distinctive steps. In Phase I, the University will construct a new building with over

32,000 square feet of space just behind Murdock Hall, and functionally connecting to

Strain Science Center through a covered pathway. This will enclose and enhance the current

Story Memorial Garden, providing a space for thoughtful reflection and tranquility. This new

building will also provide the necessary space for the division to continue their teaching and

research activities as Phase II is completed. Disruption to ongoing classes will be minimized

through this phased approach.

Murdock Hall will be demolished to make way for the Phase II wing, which will feature over

25,000 square feet. Phase II will also include bridge connections to McGill Auditorium, Strain

Science Center and between Strain and Henry Price Hall, unifying all four science buildings

into a singular complex. Both Strain and Price Halls will be significantly renovated to complete

the upgrade of the entire facility.

A view of the new Science and Technology Complex from the center of the Forest Grove campus.

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THE NEW SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COMPLEX WILL FEATURE over 57,000 square

feet of space dedicated to new technologically

and equipment-rich classrooms, teaching and

research laboratories, conference rooms, faculty

offices and student study spaces.

The complex represents a tremendous

investment in the future of science and

technology at Pacific University. Once complete,

the facility will provide the University’s top-notch

science and technology faculty and students the

space they deserve, one that will promote the

best science education available.

SAMPLE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMPLEX NAMING OPPORTUNITIES

Academic Building $5,000,000

Atrium $2,500,000

Research Floor, 2nd Floor $1,500,000

Classroom Floor, 1st Floor $1,000,000

Multimedia Lecture Hall $500,000

Laboratory $250,000

Conference Room $150,000

Classroom $100,000

Study Room $50,000

Faculty Office $25,000

THE UNIVERSITY IS unwavering

IN ITS COMMITMENT TO BUILD THE BEST

FACILITY OF ITS KIND.

The inquiry-based learning classroom features tables where students work in groups on projects while the teacher circulates amongst them to answer questions and check on progress.

Classrooms in the new Science and Technology Complex will feature state-of-the-art equipment and technology to successfully deliver this new and innovative classroom experience.

ARTS & SC IENCES | OPTOMETRY | EDUCATION | HEALTH PROFESS IONS

pacificu.edu/campaign

[email protected]

503-352-2211

Pacific University Office of University Relations

2043 College Way Forest Grove, OR 97116

Campaign for Pacific

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Science & Technology - Campaign for Pacific

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