The Point sat down with President Brower before the start of the semester and asked him: What’s news that students need to know? Here are some news items arising from that conversation.
Student safety: Sexual violence – Student and faculty update on policies
With the enactment of California bill SB 967 regarding “Student safety: sexual assault,” the Department of Education requires California colleges to allow victims of sexual assault – staff, faculty and students – to receive treatment, information and a description of off-campus resources. These state-funded policies address sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. The U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Civil Rights are still determining action and federal regulations for colleges which will be decided later this year.
Student handbooks and catalogs have been updated and faculty and staff training will occur throughout the semester.
The new science building – A lot of changes in the next two months
By early November, the walls, slabs, floor and roof are expected be completed. There will be 13 new labs for chemistry and biology and four classrooms that seat a total of 280 students installed in the new science building with a Caf Lane bridge to feed the labs. The new facility will be a 32,900 square feet, two story building. The dry sciences will remain in the Rohr Science building which will be renovated over the next couple of years.
By this time, the focus will be on the inside of the building. The stainless steel panels that will be installed on the south side of the new building are angled to reflect heat away from the new building and light back onto the patio and the cooler north side of Rohr Science. Symbols will be laser-cut to display alpha and omega, representative of both its scientific and biblical meanings.
“It’s only been about two and a half months and the structure is taking shape rapidly,” Brower said.
Students worried about the sound of the construction can rest assured.
“The heavy construction noise is generally complete, ” Brower said. “It’s not really noisy at this point; the worst of the noise was with the excavation. There’s always some noise with construction, but hopefully this will be pretty minor.”
Less than $3.5 million is left to raise for the completion of the project. According to sciencecampaign.pointloma.edu, 76 percent has been funded, which equals $11,337,366.33. There are 109 days left to donate to the campaign.
“With the number of gift proposals and visits we are making, I’m optimistic about meeting the goal,” Brower said.
Prescott Prayer Chapel – What’s the deal?
Over Christmas break, Prescott Chapel will be relocated to the grass area just north of the current its current location (near the shuttle pickup across from Brown Chapel). Physical changes to the inside of Prescott will occur to improve it. The patio area will be broader, more inviting and usable. Brower hopes money raised through alumni contributions and others will help make the interior improvements.
“It’ll be a great new location and should provide additional places of prayer as the exterior seating is developed,” Brower said.
Mary Paul, vice president of spiritual development, is coordinating the creation of a temporary prayer area for the fall semester on the rotunda of Ryan Library, with a tent type structure and banners set up for gathering and prayer for the community.
NCAA – Full membership for PLNU sports teams
“We were successfully approved for full membership in NCAA Division 2,” said Brower. “Some schools were required to repeat their provisional year. We are fully competitive members. Ethan Hamilton and the team did an incredible job. It was phenomenal amount of work and preparation to reach this point, but we are ready to compete.”
