Field House Facelift

This past winter break of 2018, the Communications Department finally got the chance to give itself a new look by changing the face of its Field House classroom.

During the one month-long break, the department completed a long-awaited project to renovate the campus Field House classroom, which is currently used for a variety of Communications classes taught by many of the accomplished Communications professors at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Dr. Nancy Cheever, Chair of the Department of Communications, said prior to this recent renovation, the Field House classroom had not received upgrades or modifications of any kind since it was transformed from a men’s locker room into a somewhat usable classroom in the 1990s.

Prior to the updates, the classroom had several rows of desks, each of which had its own Mac desktop. A small aisle in the middle of the classroom served as a walkway for professors and students to move around but, due to the small size of the classroom combined with this type of desk layout, mobility was somewhat limited.

Fast forward almost three decades, the students and staff who regularly use the classroom have anxiously awaited the day when the Field House would receive a much-needed makeover. The renovation included the removal of a sink that sat in the back corner of the classroom, leftover from its former locker room days. Even more drastic and necessary, the plans also incorporated a completely new layout of the room, including the installation of new group pod-style desks and replacement of electric strips.

In addition to the already existing smartboard, a second projector was installed along with a new instructor’s podium, new lighting and cabinets.

Dr. Cheever indicated she is pleased with the improvement and ease of mobility in the newly updated learning environment because it is designed with both students and staff in mind.

“It makes it easier for the professors to teach because they are able to move around more and connect with students one-on-one, which was difficult to do before,” Dr. Cheever explains.

Communication students that were fortunate enough to experience the new classroom setting during the Spring Semester of 2019 also agreed that the new layout has several academic benefits. As a transfer-student in her senior year majoring in Public Relations and Advertising, Breanna Serafin finds that the renovation has improved her overall classroom experience.

“I love that the room is in pods. It allows me to see around the room easier than before,” Serafin said.

“I get a better experience as a student with the style instead of always having to fight with a desktop to see the board.”