Collegiality?with Hard Hats

Abstract

If you have ever thought that the work of facility planning was just bricks and mortar, if you have ever neglected to acknowledge the work of the physical plant staff, if you have ever passed by a new or renovated build ing on your campus without taking a guided tour, pause and reflect. Look around to evaluate how well college space supports the institution's mission. When architecture succeeds, it has been the work of a hard-hat-wearing team of colleagues from across the campus and beyond. Members of the team have tried, sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding, to treat one an other's needs with respect. They have attempted to balance the needs of in dividuals and programs with the constraints of resources. Colleagues have worked to define an in-progress identity while honoring long-established habits. Faculty members have measured a history of unfulfilled promises against changing values and future contingencies. That is, the team kept on trying to learn what it means to be collegial. They had no choice. Every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. for the past six months I have joined colleagues for the Media Arts Center Phase 1 job meeting. During the last few meetings, spirits have been high, because hard-won efficiencies in this 3.5 million-dollar adaptive reuse construction project may permit the budget to cover a few more equipment expenses. The old dining commons has finally been cleared of asbestos and thoroughly gutted. Demolition is complete. We meet inside the rough, open, 27,500-square-foot space and walk the rooms lined out with fluorescent orange spray paint on the con crete floor of what will, in late August 2006, open as classrooms, faculty