Santa Clara University

Longer times between reports. I was traveling the week of June 23, and didn’t have time to get an earlier report out before I left.

The really big news is that we’ve experienced some water intrusion through conduits on the south side of the building the lower level, both in the public spaces and in the Archives and Special Collections vault. These are NOT the kind of water intrusions through the floor and walls that we experienced in the old Orradre building. Rather, they come from poorly sealed data and electrical conduits that serve as paths through the foundation for water from outside the building.

The leak in the public spaces came in through a data conduit, as a result of water accumulating in a wiring vault out in the grassy area to the south of the building, we think because of a broken sprinkler pipe. Once the water was pumped out of the vault the leak stopped. So, in addition to sealing the conduits more thoroughly, we’ll need to come up with some way to monitor the water level in that vault and empty it. The leak in the Archives vault area was through electrical conduits. Those have all been resealed, but the contractor is still searching for the source of the leak (a little digging near the foundation on the south of the building, some more a little further out).

Also outside, the landscaping contractor gave up on the sick palm tree coming back to life. I came in Wednesday morning and there were several workmen clearing out a hole where that palm had been planted, and it had already been moved to a trailer parked at the bend where The Alameda becomes Market Street. There was a replacement Palm waiting out there (notice in the third photo the severed top of the old palm which they had to saw off to get it to fit on the trailer). The new palm was planted and looking good long before noon.

We also got what should be the last of the furniture, a number of stools that go with the cocktail height tables that are near some of the windows on the second and third floors, and near the drop-in computer lab on the second. The manufacturer stopped all production about six weeks before the furniture was to be delivered in March and we’ve been waiting ever since. The tables haven’t gone unused, however. I’ve seen more than one person move the tables next to the windows and sit on the wide window sills, which put the table at just the right height for using a laptop.

This is a two-week report, still concentrating on the interior of the building. Spring quarter finals started June 9 so the building has been really busy. We are open 24 hours during exams, so we opened at 9:00 am Sunday morning and didn’t close again until 2:00 am Friday. We staff these extended hours with volunteers and students, so I spent Tuesday night from 11:00 pm Tuesday to 7:00 am Wednesday in the building as the adult of record, just in case anything went wrong. I took these photos that evening.

The first picture is of a pair of students who had created a little nest on the third floor. Each of them had a blanket to keep them warm, they’d rearranged one of the sofas so each of them had a backrest, and they’d brought a couple throw pillows in from one of the terraces to provide a little more cushion. I had seen the young woman (actually, I recognized her blanket!) Monday morning when I came in to work. She was curled up sleeping in the booth on the second floor near our administrative offices. I thought briefly about waking her (the first exam was starting in about an hour) but decided not to.

The second photo is of a corner on the first floor in the New Book Nook. These five students had moved a few pieces of furniture to create a dense study area and were there all night, working steadily away. This picture was taken from the landing on the stairs to the second floor.

The third picture was taken about 3:00 am in one of the group study rooms on the Lower level. There had been a group of about eight women in that room the first time I took a count at 11:00 pm, and they looked then like they’d been in place for quite awhile. I finally asked them if I could take their picture after the group had dwindled somewhat, but it shows how the students are using the rooms. They all had their laptops out and working, they were using the whiteboard walls to work out problems, and they were really working hard.

The last photo is a real example of how students move furniture around to create an environment that’s right for them. The bench seating runs around the base of the stair down to the Living Room. I had expected that to be a very popular, casual seating area, but it’s not very heavily used. But this night several students had moved tablet arm chairs under the stairs, along with a couple ottomen. When I first came by there were four or five students seated in this space, but by the time I got back with the camera they were gone, and only their preferred seating pattern stayed behind.

We take a head count every hour when we’re open during exams. The night I worked there were more than 250 students here working at 2:00 am, our normal closing time. Even at the lowest point of the night (at 6:00 am) there were 100 students in the building, and some were coming in for some last-minute study before the 9:00 am exam started.

Inside we’ve got some more art installed. There was a bust of Saint Thomas More in the Orradre building that had been donated to the university, with a requirement that it always be displayed in the library. We found the perfect place in the new building, at the foot of the east public stair, where you can get a great view of it from the lower level, but also see it from all levels in the stairwell, as the second photo shows.

We’re getting toward the end of the term and the building is starting to buzz. I took a shot of the upper level Information Commons on Sunday afternoon June 1. There was (and there almost always is) a lot of activity. I’m particularly pleased by the way students will gather around a single system to work together on a project, like the pair in the foreground are doing. We tried to create work space that would allow this to happen and I’ve seen as many as five people around one computer in this space. Notice the guy has pulled a tablet arm chair up to the workstation to provide more comfortable seating.

We also finally have the hanging signs up for the IC service point and the circulation desk, as you can see in the last picture.

Outside the landscapers have removed the last fronds from the palm that I mentioned a few weeks ago didn’t look healthy. I’m told they say with the fronds off the palm can rest and will come back strong. I’m skeptical.

Inside we moved Fr. Sullivan’s mural of the history of the Valley from its temporary location in Loyola Hall onto the space that was specifically designed for it in the multifunction area outside the Saint Clare Room. It really looks quite nice there. I’m happy we chose that instead of some of the other locations in the building we had considered. There are a few other art pieces that we need to decide locations for, but I think that’s something that will wait for summer. I know the President wants to be involved in those decisions.

The architects had a professional photographer here taking images of the building all this week. There was a team of three and they got some really great shots. The photographer had an interesting camera that I have to ask him more about when he comes back, probably after graduation.

We’ve also been doing quite a few tours for groups from other universities. Mostly local places (Stanford a couple times this week, UC Santa Cruz a couple weeks ago, San Jose State in a couple weeks) but this week we hosted a group from the National University of Singapore! They have a wonderful opportunity due to acquiring a significant amount of land, and they’re really interested in creating innovative learning spaces.