During the next decade, we will be faced with the question of revitalizing our biology facilities as another priority need for the College. Conceived and constructed in the decades of the 1940's to the 1960's, the Phillips Science Building and the Phillips Science Annex were never designed to accommodate the revolutionary changes that have dramatically altered the way science is taught, the way faculty interact, and the way that contemporary students learn. Phillips Science and Annex were conceived either before the structure of DNA was discovered or its vast implications were realized, before the advent of the personal computer and the communication revolution. They were constructed for a style of teaching that stressed lectures rather than active learning, students working alone rather than collaboratively, and minor departmental interdisciplinary activity. The facilities lack animal rooms, a greenhouse, a museum, a radioisotope laboratory, a tissue culture facility, a cold room, a darkroom, an equipment room, and house deionized water, pressurized air, and vacuum.
Many laboratories lack exhaust hoods, gas lines, and safety devices.
The handicapped access, number of restrooms, and the climate control systems are less than satisfactory. The laboratories are also undersized and crowded, a problem exacerbated by the addition of many pieces of large equipment items in the laboratories with the attendant noise problem. Some laboratories are even taught in a classroom in which the desks have been replaced by tables. However, even this new facility was constructed with little consideration for undergraduate research. There is one undergraduate research laboratory.