Interviews/Summary of Issues and Needs
Survey Responses: Northeast Campus
In addition to the interview sessions, a questionnaire was available on the Web site for those who were not at the meeting to comment and provide feedback to the planning team. What follows is a condensed report of the questions asked and a cross-section of the answers received:
How would you describe your TCCD campus?
Very collegiate • Old, needs to have a new Main Building as the focus, and a new Student Center • An environment conducive to education • Beautiful and peaceful • Attractive but badly in need of updated facilities • Nice, but too spread out • Nice looking from the outside, with dirty classrooms, offices, and some dirty restrooms • Old.
What one thing about your campus needs the most attention?
Student Center • Student Center because inadequate for needs of students, faculty and staff • Too much wasted, unusable space, inefficient design • Student Center is not laid out in a “friendly” atmosphere • Visitors parking in front of Campus is too small • Student Center and Administration Building need updating and space expansion to accommodate growth • Most buildings need renovation and look old, inside and out • All of the buildings need work • Parking and access • Parking is inadequate during rush times • Access to the parking is difficult, turns have been blocked off, signals don’t work, the entries are too small.
What is the most important building on your campus?
Student Center where Counseling and Testing is located, Registrar and Financial Aid should be there too • Student Center is the most important, because it’s where the bookstore, cafeteria, counseling, and testing are • NADM and NSTU are important because of the services they offer the students • Student Services because it gives the student his 1st impression of college • All buildings are important • Library is the central location and everyone uses it.
Are there buildings at TCCD that should be removed? Why?
The Student Center should be “bulldozed” and start from scratch • Design should include a “One Stop” shop for students that include Registrar, Financial Aid, Testing, Counseling and Distance Education • This cannot be done with a renovation • The Administration building should be demolished because it’s inadequate for meetings and can’t build another floor above, non-load bearing walls • Student Center • Student Center/Clock Tower because layout is unsafe and unhealthy • Student Center because of the Clock Tower • NSTU needs to be completely replaced with a facility that would house a “one-stop shop” set of services, Registrar, Financial Aid, Business Services, Counseling, Testing, DSS, etc. • NSTU is in poor repair and has asbestos which would need to be removed • Redesigning this facility would be more costly with less satisfaction of desired results • Student Center, previous asbestos, mold • Old Dental College ugly • None should be removed, just remodeled • The old district services building.
Are there buildings at TCCD that should be used for a different purpose? Which buildings? What changes would you suggest?
Student Center, needs a new building for all student services, and use the old for other • NAOM needs to be dedicated to Continuing Education • Health Sciences building needs to be enlarged to accommodate current programs and allow for future growth • The rooms taken away for computer labs that have not blossomed need to be returned to Health Sciences • The Science Learning Lab needs to be closer to the Sciences • All student services, bookstore, financial aid, registrar, career, employment, café, DSS, business services, counseling, and testing, should be in the same building.
Should continuing education programs have their own building?
Yes.
Are student service areas (food service, library, bookstore, etc.) conveniently or centrally located where students are most likely to utilize them?
No, the food services and bookstore are located at one end of campus away from most of the classrooms • The Library is centrally located.
What is your favorite outdoor space on your campus? Why?
Agora and Courtyard • Green space in middle of campus • Space between Administration Building and the Clock Tower, love the wind chimes • Courtyard inside the Student Center, nice landscaping and quiet • Chessboard area, inviting, but needs a fountain area and more shade • Area near Student Center with tables and chairs, nice place to relax.
What is the best-designed area on your campus? Why?
New testing center for DSS • New Maintenance Building, great technology • NSCQ • None • there isn’t one • The design is outdated and does not meet the needs of the TCC population.
What is the worst-designed area? Why?
Entrance to Administration • Parking for the handicapped, distance to anything is a long way • Counseling Offices are not convenient for students • Registrar Area, not enough waiting room • NHSC, inadequate classrooms • Parking Lots, very poor drainage even though just repaired, people have to walk through lakes to get to the buildings • Parking lots and campus pathways need better lighting to ensure the safety of the participants of night time activities • Each parking lot should have a sign indicating what buildings are best accessed from that lot • The staff/faculty parking needs to have the slots re-striped with a new coat of bright yellow • We need more directions/maps located outside near the parking lots • Computer classrooms, they were poorly retrofitted • Business Services and Registrar is too dark and poorly designed to hold large groups of people.
What special features should be added to make outdoor spaces more attractive, fun, interesting and comfortable?
A space reader is needed where a schedule of activities is displayed • More benches and pavilions are needed that shelter from sun and rain • More trees for shaded areas • Fountain is needed within the same general area as the chessboard • Shade • Benches and tables, more trees, native plantings and less grass • Shaded, clean sitting areas with weeds pulled • Smoker area needed away from non-smokers.
Should there be more distinctive and well defined entries into the campus? If so, what changes do you suggest?
Yes, another traffic lane at Grapevine Highway • Signage, more signs with directions to different buildings and signage that shows which parking lot is for whom • More signs for Visitor’s Parking • Yes • Yes, with signs that have arrows showing where the buildings are • No • All the entries to the campus should all have signal lights, as well as clearly marked on the asphalt what lane goes where • Yes, it should be clear that this is a college • A person entering the campus should be greeted by directional signs letting them know where they can go from that entry • Yes, improved signage in parking lots, on buildings, maps, outside buildings.
Is there an adequate amount of directional signage on the campus? Do you have any ideas on how to improve campus signage?
No, needs to be completely redone • No, and new signs need to be readable day and night • No, need more maps of overall campus and bigger building labels • Each entry should have a sign “Administration Building” with an arrow • This sign should be repeated every time there is a turn-off from the primary campus street • No, there isn’t enough signage • The signs are non existent, poorly placed, hard to read and unreadable at night • The outdoor maps are out of date and confusing • Maps inside buildings are horrible and don’t match the numbers on the rooms • The buildings don’t give a clear indication of what classes are in them • On other college campuses, they use a sign with a list of buildings and in which direction to find them • It would be nice if these signs were readable day or night • No, have all names on buildings match names on maps • Change names on building to new names from a year ago.
When visitors come to campus, where do they park? Where do they go for information?
They use our space because it is closer to the Student Center • They don’t use the Visitors Area • The President should tell them to use the Visitor area • In a very small visitors lot with no directional signage that is easy to see • In front of the Administration Building even though there’s not enough parking available • It would be nice to have a guard to direct people • Visitor’s parking in front of the Administration Building. Parking lot D, (and Visitor’s Parking if available). Then they typically wander either to the Testing Center or the Registrar • Visitor’s lot, but there isn’t enough visitor parking on campus • For information, they usually ask someone walking by or just wander into the closest building • They often don’t know • There are blue “Visitor” parking slots in most parking lots • Visitors I’ve met all have parked at the end of campus that is the most distant from the Administration Building • They then ask anyone they can for directions • They are supposed to park in the visitors parking on the south side of campus, however that parking is so limited they have to park in other lots • There is no clear indication of where to go for information, the just wander until they find something • The much too small visitor’s lot • They go to the Library for information.
Is there enough signage to easily navigate the campus? If no, what areas need improvement?
No, all of it • People come to the Clock Tower for guidance • A person is needed at the entrance to direct them • No, in front of main entrance • No, need more maps of the overall campus • Need signs to point to Admissions, Counseling, etc. • It’s okay • No, all areas • Signs simply don’t exist • No, all areas, especially entrances • Need high contrast signage.
Is there enough lighting on your campus? If no, what areas need attention?
No, need improved lighting between NSTU and adjacent building • No, dark areas at night between buildings and on the parking lots • No, there are dark areas that have developed as the trees have grown • No, light should be checked regularly and maintenance given a priority • Parking lots should be bright, especially remote lots.
What changes need to be made to improve safety on your campus? Are emergency call boxes located within a reasonable distance?
More Police officers • Counseling Center: Panic switches needed • another exit, just have one entry and no exit • Counseling should be on bottom floor • I don’t know of any call boxes on the NE campus • More lighting • Call boxes are needed • Need call boxes in parking lots • We need emergency call boxes, more than one, in each parking lot and in the hallway of each floor of each building • There are no call boxes. One on each compass point and one in the center near the Library • There are no call boxes • Call boxes are needed at every major pedestrian intersection.
Where would you remove or add parking areas on your campus?
More Eastside parking • Visitors • Put parking closer to buildings • An additional lot is needed by the Administration Building • Visitor’s Parking • Add more visitors parking • I would add a parking garage • Most colleges have at least one • This would double the amount of parking in an area • Faculty and students would probably pay to park in the shade.
Are the facilities on campus adequate for a full range of academic and extra-curricular activities?
A large room for testing • The C/A Center has inadequate space for staff meetings • a conference room is needed • No, the size of the average classroom has not grown with the population • There are only a few auditorium style lecture rooms and most of them were built in the new science building in the last 5 years • Each class room I have utilized needs more square-footage • We are squeezing 30 plus students into rooms that max-out with 20 to 25 students • It is not safe or comfortable, and definitely does not enhance the learning experience • No, there are not adequate meeting rooms for student activities.
Is there adequate space for offices like Counseling, Testing and Career Services? Could these facilities be improved to enhance student use and the quality of services to students?
Counseling needs more space • Testing needs more space for testing large groups • More storage needed • No, not enough equal space to do testing, counseling, and career exploration • Testing area needs to accommodate students with disabilities • No, these spaces are too small • Yes, they need to be improved • No, Counseling and Testing need to be together • No, larger waiting areas with more seating are needed • No, space for Counseling and Career is highly inadequate • Cramped and dilapidated waiting area for students, too few offices for counselors/advisors • Noise levels are disruptive, cramped proximity of the offices make for highly compromised confidentiality • Lack of privacy is an issue • All counselors offices need some type of window in the doors so that some visibility would be possible while the doors are closed during personal and crisis counseling • An “Alert system” also needs to be in place in each office so that the front desk or Campus Police can be notified in the event of potential danger • The current C/A Center is both a potential fire hazard and crisis hazard in the event of an emergency, since there is only one set of stairs/access to the Center • Testing needs more space • No, I believe counseling needs a lot more space • Since the Testing Center is now predominately concerned with admission issues, the Math department created its own testing center • Now Science and Health Science need to create a testing center devoted to their subjects • No, in the NTAB building last year, a counselor was in the building, which was nice to have access to a counselor without having to cross campus • Yes, the current facilities could be greatly improved to provide better service • Right now, they seem to be crammed into a very small space.
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