To: The Wellesley Community
From: Ann Velenchik, Dean of Academic Affairs
Re: Science at Wellesley During the Science Center Renovation
Date: November 10, 2017

We know that many members of the Wellesley community—faculty, staff, and students on campus, our large network of alumnae and emerita/e faculty, and the thousands of young women considering Wellesley as their college choice—have heard about the upcoming renovations to the Science Center. The planning process began in April 2016; work is scheduled to start in late spring of 2018 and continue through the summer of 2021.

A large and significant project of such long duration understandably raises questions about the effects on scientific education and research at Wellesley in the interim. I am writing to share details about the construction and transition process and how we plan to ensure science education continues with few constraints. The heart of the matter is this: The excellence of the scientific enterprise at Wellesley is rooted in the energy and excitement generated when talented students and dedicated faculty engage in robust collaborative inquiry. We have been doing great science in our current facilities for decades, and we are confident that we will continue to do great science in the temporary facilities we will put in place during construction. At the end, we will have what we most want—brilliant students working with world-class faculty in a cutting-edge teaching and research facility.

During the winter of 2018, we will set up connected temporary modular teaching spaces (approximately 30,000 square feet in total) in the Gray Lot, near the Science Center. From summer 2018 through spring 2019, those spaces will house classrooms and research laboratories relocated from the “L wing.” This move will make way for renovations to the wing’s mechanical, electric, and plumbing systems; replacement of the exterior; total renovation of the animal facility; and conversion of the current library space into a computational and data sciences lab containing offices, classrooms, laboratories, and meeting spaces. Some of the faculty members whose research labs are in L wing will relocate to shared spaces in Sage Hall.

While we expect some adjustment in the schedule of laboratory classes (and understand that faculty will be sharing their research spaces), we do not anticipate reducing curriculum offerings or altering the learning goals or the teaching methods in those laboratory courses. Though space will be somewhat compromised, we plan to host our annual summer research program in 2018 using roughly the same size and structure as in the past. The interim teaching lab spaces will support the summer research program as well.

Research opportunities for students will continue, as will the funding for student research, which is entirely separate from the funding for the building. We also plan to keep the Focus, a shared study and socializing space, open for students during the L wing construction, to the extent possible.

When the work in the L wing is completed and the labs have reopened (summer 2019), the modular spaces will be reconfigured as classrooms and offices in preparation for the demolition of Sage Hall and the construction of the new building. That process should continue until 2021, with the reopening planned for fall 2021. During those two years, some science, mathematics, and psychology classes will be held in the newly renovated parts of the L wing, some in the modular classrooms, and others in classroom spaces elsewhere on campus.

During this period, depending on the construction timing, the Focus may be closed. However, new work and socializing spaces will be available in the current library.

The timing of the transition back to L wing creates some uncertainty about the summer of 2019. We do plan to host a summer research program that year, and we will spend the early part of 2018–19 determining the size and orientation of that program as we learn more about how quickly the work in the L wing is proceeding. We will explore creating more field-work based research opportunities on campus and funding students to do research off-campus, both with faculty at other institutions and with Wellesley faculty who have research connections at area institutions.

The renovation is an exciting project that provides an opportunity for real transformation in our science facilities. The planning stage has been intensive, inclusive, and detailed. Our experience with previous renovations has shown us that our faculty can teach very effectively in some unlikely spaces, and the enthusiasm and collaborative spirit the science faculty have shown in the planning process make us confident that excellent teaching and learning will continue. We know that for a time, there will be disruptions to our physical work spaces and to our way of doing business. But we also know that the core of the “Wellesley Way” of providing high-impact, hands-on science education is the excellence of our faculty and our students, and we anticipate no disruption to that at all.