College starts building new science center
A science lab is under construction in northwest Houston.
Lone Star College-University Park broke ground recently on a $15.4 million science center.
The 50,000-square-foot, three-story building will house 12 labs, including biology, chemistry and anatomy, all stocked with technologically advanced equipment.
“The Center for Science & Innovation will reflect our innovative culture at LSC-University Park,” campus president Shah Ardalan said. “Our students will benefit from the state-of-the art instructional science laboratories and spaces we have designed for collaboration.”
In addition to a new space for science courses, the center will have many learning opportunities for the entire community, Ardalan said.
The center will feature an indoor, 3-D geology teaching wall. The wall, which will rise three stories around the elevator, will show the earth’s rock layers.
The college will encourage area schools to take field trips to the new center as a learning opportunity for students from kindergarten through 12th grade, said Veronique Tran, dean of the division of math and sciences at LSC-University Park.
“The (center) will be ideal for hosting summer science institutes for teachers and K-12 outreach events to excite students about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers and other community education events,” Tran said.
The new science center, expected to be complete for the start of fall 2017 classes, will help the University Park campus meet demands of a growing enrollment, now at 11,685, Ardalan said. The campus has an enrollment capacity of 15,000 students.
The number of students grew by 20 percent in the fall compared with a year ago and is expected to grow by additional 15 percent to 20 percent in fall 2016, Ardalan said. And he expects the number to continue to rise in 2017.
Class space is tight at University Park as the campus has worked to keep up with student demand and area growth.
The facility is funded through a $485 million bond for the Lone Star College System passed by voters in 2014.
The center is being built with a focus on the importance of collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking.
The first floor will include a learning commons area, open 40 hours a week, where students can get extra help from faculty members and collaborate with peers.
The campus calls this area the “science hot spot.” It is a spinoff of a pilot math program started on the campus in spring 2015.
Faculty members spend office hours in that area and are available for any student who needs extra help.
The space has collaboration pods where six students can gather around tables and hook up laptops.
The building will also include a third-floor observation deck for the lab portion of the new astronomy courses offered at the campus.
Students in stellar and planetary astronomy take telescopes to the fourthfloor of a parking garage now to view the night sky for the observation portion of courses. Once the science building is complete, the third-floor deck will be their laboratory instead.
The third-floor deck will also be used for community events.
The campus is hoping to raise funds to build an observation dome on top of the deck that would feature high-powered telescopes that could be used by students and the community.
“With private donor and corporate support, we hope to raise additional funds for special features of the building,” Ardalan said. “Those who invest will be investing with us in the future of our community.”