Vote on Furniture Options for New Health and Science Center
Cast your ballot for the furniture you like best for the new Health and Science Center (HS) on campus.
Furniture will be on display in the lower walkway of the Student Resource Center (SRC) adjacent to the TV lounge. At least two furniture options for each public area will be displayed.

Surveys will be posted near the furniture and balloting will take place through Friday, April 25. Each reviewer is asked to submit only one ballot.

Input is also being sought on the tablet arm chair used in the classroom. Four criteria are used to define the specifications for the chair – seat comfort, tablet size, moveable back and book rack.
In addition, classroom layouts will be displayed showing current and future configurations.

For more information, contact Tim Coenen, HS project manager, at (630) 942-2565 or Meri Phillips, director of Student Activities, at (630) 942-2515.

Spring/Summer Construction Continues at C.O.D.
by Ken Reed
Tall Grass Road
Photo by Rich Malec

Spring traditionally ushers in a surge of road and other construction projects. College of DuPage will continue its share of such work in late March 2008, following recent approval of a major Roadway, Parking Lot and Landscaping (RPL3) contract by the Board of Trustees.

The $5,534,380 contract awarded Abbey Paving, Aurora, encompasses a variety of road and parking lot construction that ultimately will impact students, staff and visitors as they travel throughout the Glen Ellyn campus.

While construction continues on two major projects, the Health and Science Center (HS), located east of Lambert Road and the Technical Education Center (TE) just west of Lambert, Abbey Paving this spring and summer will concentrate on roads on and near the campus and the reconfiguration of one campus parking lot.

Abbey Paving will commence work the end of March at the Lambert/Tallgrass Road intersection, the south section of Lot S (formerly L) and the widening of College Road.

John Wandolowski, C.O.D. director of Facilities, Planning and Construction/Operations and Maintenance, emphasized that work will not interfere with the C.O.D. commencement ceremony on May 16 and several high school graduations hosted at the college.

"Those graduation dates are important in terms of how we try to be conscious of what is happening on campus, Wandolowski said." The RPL3 project is scheduled to be completed this fall.

One of the largest spring/summer projects is the repaving and reconfiguration of Parking Lot S, located north of College Road and east of the Russell R. Kirt Prairie. Angela Knoble, project manager, Facilities Planning and Construction, emphasized that work on the parking lot will be done in phases, starting with the south end of the lot.

Wandolowski said another major project is the removal of the current Circle Drive and drop-off location next to the Student Resource Center's (SRC) south entrance. That roadway and drop-off will be replaced by an attractive plaza featuring trees, grass and an outdoor performance area with terraced seating.

However, students, staff and visitors will still have access to a new drop-off area near the SRC's south entrance. This drop-off will be located just west of the new plaza along Prairie Drive, which connects College Road and Fawell Boulevard. The drop-off will be out of Prairie's traffic pattern so passengers can safely exit and enter vehicles.

Knoble said an attractive island will be situated in the drop-off, which will contain prairie plantings andrepresent an extension of the prairie to the west.

Handicap parking on the north end of Parking Lot S will be moved closer to the new plaza and a handicap entrance ramp constructed from that lot along the west side of the Seaton Computing Center to the south Berg Instructional Center (BIC) plaza.

"In designing the plaza, we are looking at its impact on students and how to make it a better space for them," Wandolowski said. Handicap parking and the handicap entrance ramp, the common space and safety of students have all been improved. It is a good plan and an improved entrance for the students."

Also on Abbey's spring/summer docket is a widening of Lambert from Circle Drive to the new Tallgrass Road, which connects with Lambert. Tallgrass is an east-west roadway from Lambert to the McAninch Arts Center. Turn lanes will be added on Lambert at Tallgrass.

Further, a new traffic signal will be installed at the Lambert and Tallgrass intersection and the traffic signal at Lambert and Circle Drive removed. The Circle Drive roadway from Prairie to Lambert will be eliminated after the new intersection opens.

"Bringing the entrance to Tallgrass off Lambert will really change how people see the campus," Wandolowski said. "They will pass by the HS building on the north side for their first impression of the campus. It will be a dramatic change." A new sidewalk along Tallgrass will become the main pedestrian crossing between the east and west campuses.

Other construction changes include a right turn lane onto College from Lambert and widening College to the north from Prairie to Park Boulevard to allow for the addition of turn lanes into roads and parking lots.

In addition, sidewalks will be constructed on the west side of Lambert from Fawell to College and on College from Lambert to Park.

Knoble said these spring/summer construction projects will increase parking capacity, improve the safety of all roadways, access drives and circulation, consolidate pedestrian movements, and reduce parking lot pavement and reflected radiation.

Moreover, 40 benches, 25 trash/recycle receptacles, 20 bike racks, 250 to 300 trees, three-quarters of an acre of natural plantings and improved lighting and storm water facilities will be part of the campus improvements.

Work will also begin this spring on a bridge spanning Prairie Drive connecting the SRC with the new HS building. A west campus power system upgrade is also being installed with an instantaneous switch gear, according to Wandolowski. The switch gear provides two separate power sources for the west campus. If something happens to one of the power feeds, the second feed comes online in less than a second. "It is a sophisticated approach to make sure we have power at all times," Wandolowski said.

Communication throughout these construction projects will be a high priority, according to Wandolowski. "We will communicate as rapidly as possible so everyone is aware of these projects." He said the college web site will be utilized extensively, as will new mobile lighted signs, which are currently in place on Lambert and College.

"It will be critical for students, staff and visitors to understand traffic pattern changes," he said.

For more information and construction updates on the FMP, visit this web site: www.cod.edu/facilities_plan/index.htm.

Wandowlowski Gives Back to His Community
By Ken Reed
A Wheaton resident who credits a community college for launching his career and who maintains that College of DuPage means “college of dreams” is C.O.D.’s new director of Facilities Planning and Construction/Operations and Maintenance.

John Wandolowski began his duties at C.O.D. in November. He oversees the college’s comprehensive Facilities Master Plan (FMP) as well as the day-to-day operation of the college facilities, which includes buildings and grounds, custodians and engineers. Wandolowski works closely with the Rise Group, which the college hired as the project manager for the FMP.

Prior to joining C.O.D., Wandolowski was the senior facility director at Central DuPage Hospital.

While Wandolowski said he is excited about his new opportunity at C.O.D., he views his position as more than just a job. It is a chance for him to give back to his community. “The higher education experience for me would not have happened if there were no community colleges.”

His work as a mechanic was the catalyst to the start of his higher education studies. Wandolowski first attended a community college – Triton College – where he earned an associate’s degree in diesel technology. He then went on to Chicago State University where he was graduated with a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology and then advanced for his master’s at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.

Wandolowski has a special affinity for C.O.D.: Both of his children, Daniel and Pamala, attended the college. And when he mentioned to a student from Naperville that he was going to work at College of DuPage, the student said, “You mean college of dreams.”

“Without a doubt, I agree with that student,” Wandolowski said. “The student was impressed with C.O.D. and knows what the college has done for his friends.”

Wandolowski is looking forward to being a part of a process that makes the college even better. “There is much to be said for completing a building that wasn’t there before. To be able to stand back and say, ‘I helped build that and we have given it to the community,’ that is a very satisfying motivator for me.”

These are exciting times for Wandolowski and his team. He points out that the FMP is fulfilling the dreams of students and faculty and providing an environment “that will rival any other institution in the country in terms of learning.”

“If you look at this campus in five years, it is going to be the premier community college in the country. All the new buildings -- the Early Childhood Center, the Health and Science Center, and the Technical Education Center -- are state-of-the-art and very cutting-edge. It is very exciting.”

While the building projects are going full steam ahead, part of Wandolowski’s job is to make sure that momentum is maintained through completion.

“The last part of the race is most important and that is the part I can enhance,” he said. “I will be energizing the group as we get close to completion. I know that with my background, I can be of assistance in what we are trying to do here.”

Moving In

Photo by Rich Malec

Michelle Barton, left, and Allie Hink, lead kindergarten teacher and kindergarten teacher, respectively, in the College of DuPage Early Childhood Education and Care Demonstration Center, lend a hand as the center begins to move into its new ECEC building. The 22,500-square-foot facility is located on the west side of Lambert Road and is the first building to be constructed as part of the college’s comprehensive Facilities Master Plan. The rest of the ECEC move will occur on Wednesday, July 18

TE Construction Gets Green Light
By Ken Reed
Construction of the Technical Education Center (TE) on the College of DuPage campus will get under way as early as Wednesday, June 20. This comes after the college’s Board of Trustees approved the first bid package for the building on Monday, June 11.

The Board’s approval of bids by four sub-contractors for concrete, masonry, structural steel and excavation paves the way for work to begin as early as Wednesday, according to Michael Appelbaum, project manager. Appelbaum said that crews on Tuesday will erect a fence around the building site “to define the work area” and that excavation activities will follow.

As construction begins, all of Lot B, located at the southwest corner of Lambert Road and Fawell Boulevard, will be closed. This past February, the east half of the parking lot was closed. Access to the Open Campus Center drop-off circle will remain via a dedicated access drive entry from Lot B. When ground is broken, the TEC building will be the third facility under construction as part of the college’s comprehensive Facilities Master Plan.

Construction on the Early Childhood Center (EC), located west of Lambert Road, was completed in August 2007, and construction continues on the Health and Science Center (HS), situated east of Lambert Road.

The TE, an approximately 178,000 square-foot building, is tentatively scheduled to be completed in January 2009. It will contain the Architecture, Interior Design, Ornamental Horticulture, Automotive Technology, Computer-Aided Design, Construction Management, Electro-Mechanical Technology, Electronics-Integrated Engineering Technology, HVACR, Manufacturing Technology and Welding programs. Meanwhile, the ECEC is to be completed this summer, while the HCNS building is tentatively scheduled for completion in December 2008. The HCNS is a 192,000-square-foot facility.

The EC houses both the Beem Demonstration Center (the Early Childhood Education program) and the Student/Parent Co-op (the childhood center), currently located in the Open Campus Center.
The HS will house a combination of laboratory, classroom, office and instructional space for health careers programs.

College Officials Take First Look at Child Care Center
child care center tour
Kathy Wessel (Wheaton), center, a member of the College of DuPage Board of Trustees, along with other members of the Board and administration, tour the college’s new 22,500 square-foot Early Childhood Center, which was completed in August 2007. The center, located west of Lambert Road, was the first building constructed as part of the college’s comprehensive Facilities Master Plan. Also pictured are Diane Kubetz, left, coordinator of the Early Childhood Education and Care program and Rod Schlenker, deputy program manager, the Rise Group, LLC.

Groundbreaking Takes Place for Health and Science Center
Health careers buld groundbreakiung
Photo by Rich Malec

Board of Trustees members (from left) Umar Farooq, Kathy Wessel, Chairman Micheal McKinnon, Beverly Fawell, Diane Landry, Mark Nowak and Mary Mack break ground together on the site of the new Health and Science Center.

The approximately 180,000 square-foot building will contain a variety of health and sciences programs, including Allied Health, Certified Nursing Assistant, Dental Hygiene, Diagnostic Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Nursing, Physical Therapist Assistant, Radiography, Respiratory Care, Surgical Technology, Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, Zoology, and Botany. Construction is expected to continue through 2008.

Work Begins on Health and Science Center
Crews began stripping asphalt the end of March on the site of the Health and Science Center (HS), the second facility to be constructed at College of DuPage as part of its comprehensive Facilities Master Plan.

The demolition work on the site, located just west of the Student Resource Center (SRC), will take about one month, according to Tim Coenen, project manager for the HCNS building. Prior to the demolition work, Parking Lots P and Q, located west of the SRC, will be permanently closed starting Sunday, March 25.

The demolition work will include the temporary removal of several oak trees along Circle Drive. Coenen said the trees “are campus symbols and will be replaced so that the full species collection will be restored after the building is completed.”

After the asphalt has been removed, Coenen said that excavation activity, which includes the building up of grades to prescribed elevations, will get under way.

He emphasized that additional parking will be available through the end of April in nearby Lots L, south of the Berg Instructional Center (IC), and Lot C, located northwest of the SRC.

Handicap parking will be relocated to Parking Lot L, while staff parking will be relocated to the lot adjacent to the Community Garden, which is west of Lot L. Coenen said that pedestrian access will be maintained from the SRC to Lambert Road during the construction process.

The Health and Science Center, a 192,000-square-foot, $45 million (construction cost) facility, will house a combination of laboratory, classroom, office and instructional space. The building will contain the following programs: Allied Health, Certified Nursing Assistant, Dental Hygiene, Diagnostic Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Nursing, Physical Therapist Assistant, Radiography, Respiratory Care, Surgical Technology, Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, Zoology and Botany.

Construction of the college’s first FMP building, the Early Childhood Center (EC), is proceeding. This 22,500 square-foot building is scheduled to be completed in spring 2007.

Coenen said that construction of the HS will continue through 2007 and for all of 2008. The building is anticipated to be completed at the end of 2008.

Following on the heels of HS construction will be the Technical Education Center (TE). Ground is tentatively scheduled to be broken in late spring of 2007 for the approximately 172,000 square-foot, $37 million (construction cost) building.

A parking lot at the southwest corner of Lambert Road and Fawell Boulevard, on the west side of the main campus, will be permanently closed due to the TE construction. That lot is tentatively scheduled to be closed in April. TE construction is tentatively scheduled to be completed in January 2009.

‘New’ Campus Starting to Emerge
By Ken Reed
With one new building beginning to show its true colors and young trees and shrubbery appearing in bio-swales throughout reconfigured parking lots, the “new” College of DuPage campus is beginning to emerge.
Plans continue to emerge for the erection of two new buildings on either side of Lambert Road, Health and Science Center (HS) and the Technical Education Center (TE).

The first building to be constructed as part of the college’s massive Facilities Master Plan, is the Early Childhood Education Center (EC). This 22,500 square-foot building is scheduled for completion in August 2007.

Highlighted by a colorful entrance, the metal roofing and wall panel installation of the EC is now complete. Interior stud wall framing, plumbing rough and ductwork installation is ongoing. Interior paint colors have been selected and furniture colors are being finalized. A kitchen equipment purchase order has been issued and equipment delivery has been tentatively scheduled for mid-January.

The EC will house both the Beem Demonstration Center (the Early Childhood Education program) and the Student/Parent Co-op (the childhood center) currently located in the Open Campus Center building.
Meanwhile, parking lots just west of the Student Resource Center and fronting Circle Drive will close permanently due to construction of the HS building. Angela Knoble, C.O.D. project manager, Facilities Planning and Construction (FPC), said ground is tentatively scheduled to be broken for the HS building in March 2007, and construction is tentatively scheduled to be completed in December 2008. The HS is a 192,000-square-foot, $45 million (construction cost) facility.

A site utilization plan concept for the HS has been drafted and presented to FPC. The sequencing plan that defines the fence line, pedestrian and vehicular access, construction trailers and material staging, and proposed new curb cuts was presented to the Village of Glen Ellyn in early November.

The HS building will house a combination of laboratory, classroom, office and instructional space for health careers programs. The building will contain the following programs: Allied Health, Certified Nursing Assistant, Dental Hygiene, Diagnostic Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Nursing, Physical Therapist Assistant, Radiography, Respiratory Care, Surgical Technology, Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, Zoology and Botany.

Following on the heels of the HS construction will be the Technical Education Center. Ground is tentatively scheduled to be broken in April 2007 for the approximately 172,000-square-foot, $37 million (construction cost) TE Center. Knoble said that TE construction is tentatively scheduled to be completed in January 2009. She also noted that a parking lot at the southwest corner of Lambert Road and Fawell Boulevard, on the west side of the main campus, will be permanently closed due to construction of the TE building. That lot is tentatively scheduled to be closed in April 2007.

The Technical Education Center will contain the Architecture, Interior Design, Ornamental Horticulture, Automotive Technology, Computer-Aided Design, Construction Management, Electro-Mechanical Technology, Electronics-Integrated Engineering Technology, HVAC-R, Manufacturing Technology and Welding programs. Reconfiguration work continues on the parking lot just north of the McAninch Arts Center. This parking lot has been recently surfaced with asphalt and stripped. While the majority of the lot is scheduled to open soon, the east one-third of the lot will remain closed due to high moisture content in the clay and cold temperatures. That portion of the lot is tentatively scheduled to open in April 2007.

Landscaping work continues throughout the campus with the erection of trees and shrubbery and the spreading and placement of top soil in the bio-swales.

College Construction Projects Gain Momentum
By Ken Reed
Even as construction of the College of DuPage’s Early Childhood Center (EC) continues on schedule, and parking lots go on- and off-line due to parking lot creation and reconfiguration, preparation for the erection of two new buildings is under way as the college’s massive Facilities Master Plan (FMP) picks up momentum.

Currently on schedule to open in spring 2007, according to Angela Knoble, project manager, Facilities Planning and Construction, the EC is the first new building to be constructed as part of the college’s comprehensive FMP.

The building is taking shape with the erection of the steel shell and exterior wall and stud sheathing. Portions of the building’s unique geothermal system are complete. Playground design options have been finalized, and site rough grading work at the north and east sides of the building are scheduled to start in September.
The center is being constructed west of Lambert Road and south of the existing Open Campus Center (OCC) and detention pond. It will serve more than 110 children.

The 22,500 square-foot building will house both the Beem Demonstration Center (the Early Childhood Education program) and the Student/Parent Co-op (the childhood center) currently located in the OCC building.

Meanwhile, activities continue on the creation and reconfiguration of parking lots east of Lambert road. All parking lots north of the Berg Instructional Center (BIC) and Student Resource Center (SRC) are now open. Those lots were reconfigured during summer 2006 and are now scheduled for landscaping that includes bio-swales, native grasses and trees. Landscaping work should begin in the near future and will be ongoing through the fall, according to Knoble. The bio-swales, which are long rows of depressions about two feet deep, are now in place in the parking lots.

In addition, a new parking lot just west of the McAninch Arts Center has been created in what was once a large grassy area. A number of trees “in tribute” in this section have been catalogued and replanted near the MAC.

The parking lot just north of the MAC is now closed for construction, as is the north-south road just west of the SRC. Reconfiguration work on the MAC lot is expected to be completed in November.
Moreover, a new parking lot is being constructed just south of the Physical Education and Community Recreation Center. This lot should be completed in October.

The lot adjacent to Lambert Road and northwest of the SRC is scheduled to be reconfigured beginning in March 2007. Two lots south of the BIC will be reconfigured beginning in June 2007.
In late November, lots just west of the SRC and fronting Circle Drive will close permanently due to construction of the Health and Science Center (HS). Construction of that building is expected to begin in spring 2007.

The HS will house a combination of laboratory, classroom, office and instructional space for health careers programs. The building will contain the following programs: Allied Health, Certified Nursing Assistant, Dental Hygiene, Diagnostic Medical Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Nursing, Physical Therapist Assistant, Radiography, Respiratory Care, Surgical Technology, Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, Zoology and Botany.

When all east campus parking lots are complete, the college will have 6,200 parking spaces available, versus the current 5,203, a net gain of 997 spaces.

Also in late November, a parking lot at the southwest corner of Lambert Road and Fawell Boulevard, on the west side of the main campus, will be permanently closed due to construction of the Technical Education Center (TE). Construction of that building is expected to begin in spring of 2007.

The TE will contain the Architecture, Interior Design, Ornamental Horticulture, Automotive Technology, Computer-Aided Design, Construction Management, Electro-Mechanical Technology, Electronics-Integrated Engineering Technology, HVAC-R, Manufacturing Technology and Welding Technology programs.

Both the TE and HS buildings are expected to be completed in 2009. Knoble noted that “construction is progressing well on campus. We realize that with construction, there are inconveniences, and we would like to thank staff and students for working with us in this effort to improve the campus.”