If beauty is truly internal, then Silsby is looking better than it has in years. Students arrived on campus this fall to find many social science departments in the new and improved, yet not entirely completed, Silsby Hall.
The departments of government, anthropology, education, economics, sociology and African and African-American studies are now utilizing new classroom and office space within Silsby.
Social Science Computing will also move to Silsby upon completion of the building's basement.
According to Associate Dean of the Faculty for Social Sciences David Blanchflower, the finishing date is set for no later than October 1.
Perhaps most visible, Silsby Hall now contains "smart classrooms," a type of classroom design that incorporates multi-media technology.
Advantages aside, the Silsby project has not been entirely problem-free. Blanchflower acknowledged that some departments were inconvenienced by the construction, most noticeably the government department which was forced to move out of Silsby last spring and then return over the summer.
Additionally, residents in the nearby Russell Sage-Butterfield dorm cluster have been less than pleased with early-morning construction work. While one Russell Sage inhabitant, Jared Alessandroni '03, asserted that construction workers are considerate of late-risers, others disagreed.
According to Erik Carlson '03, the noise "wakes us up pretty much every morning."
In response to construction delays which resulted in further disruptions, Blanchflower commented that "mistakes were made and they were resolved." He pointed out that the essential goal of the renovation, opening enhanced classrooms and filling them with students by the first day of fall term, had indeed been met.
The original goals for the project were the improvement of the quantity and quality of teaching space, and, in order to better accommodate Silsby's new residents, considerable alterations were required.
