Classes and services continue the move from Main

Computers, lab equipment, and classroom supplies are still on the move from the Main Building to new locations as faculty, academic support staff, and academic administrators work to re-start all classes that were disrupted in the aftermath of the Clifton Campus water line break on Aug. 31.

Senior Lab Technicans Wayne Herbers and Gail Quinlan (above) are among many faculty and staff members involved in the moving process.

Provost Robbin Hoopes said 323 in-person course sections that were meeting in Main Building classrooms and labs have been affected by the disruption.

Some student services located in Main, such as Disability Services, also are in process of restarting activities in alternate locations.

Most of the affected course sections were able to be moved to rooms in ATLC or HPB.

As of Thursday morning (Sep. 10), many students in the displaced class and lab sections were either attending class again in person or completing assignments remotely while set-up is completed this week in the new location.

Some academic programs are still seeking ways to ensure that all course learning outcomes can be achieved, including use of specialized equipment that cannot be moved easily from Main.

• Programs facing these challenges include Automotive Maintenance Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Chemical Technology, and Graphic Imaging Technology.
   
  Some of these programs are still seeking off-campus locations to continue activities, but COVID-19 restrictions have added complications to the search for appropriate alternate facilities.
   
• Instructors of Chemistry and Physics classes who were using labs in Main to make instructional videos for students will move to labs on Middletown and Harrison campuses to complete the video shooting.
   
• Practicum activities for Early Childhood Education students that would have used the Mallory Center in Main will work with off-campus community partners as an alternative.

“Our faculty and academic staff are working tirelessly and creatively to figure this out,” Provost Hoopes said. “The faculty are using their expertise to solve teaching challenges, and many are assisting with the physical work of moving, too.”

“It’s an amazing effort,” Provost Hoopes said.

Emergency lighting in Main creates pathways for safe movement of equipment from rooms and hallways to new spaces.

A newly-established classroom for the Landscape Horticulture program in HPB 112 includes the program mascot “Ms. Head,” seen near the center of the photo below, in front of the poster leaning against the window. (Keep reading to learn her story.)

According to Horticulture professor Heather Augustine, Ms. Head joined the program staff in 2004, when she was discovered behind a bush near a beauty college in Provo, Utah, where CState students were participating in the National Collegiate Landscape Competition (NCLC).

Ms. Head accompanied the students back to Cincinnati State, and since then has traveled with Horticulture students from Ohio to California, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Kansas, Colorado, and more.

Ms. Head returned to Provo for NCLC in 2017, where she received a Surge face tattoo.

Heather said, “Over the years Ms. Head has brought laughter and a sense of community to Cincy State Horticulture staff, students, and alumni.”

“When we relocated to HPB, we could only grab the essentials, and Ms. Head was one of the first items we packed,” Heather added.

“We have encouraged our on-campus students and staff to visit our HPB room if they get homesick for the horticulture labs in Main 108– they will find a familiar face who is steadfast in this storm of change.”

(Photos provided by Julie Rohling, Kathy Freed, Yvonne Baker, and Heather Augustine)