Construction is a distraction to learning

When talking about construction on campus, most students believe it is an inconvenience, which must be tolerated in order to make capital improvements to buildings in desperate repair. Usually when talking about inconvenience created by construction, students refer to being unable to walk the shortest possible pathway to class or being woken up early by renovations near a dorm. The inconvenience of construction, however, takes a much more serious form. Noise from construction can be very distracting and disruptive to professors attempting to teach a class. This is the most serious consequence of studying on a campus under construction. Many times, disturbances to academics are ignored and are not often thought of as inconveniences by students. Jackhammering, digging, banging and noisy trucks all create sound effects that can be heard in academic buildings nearby. With much of the construction occurring during the day, classes have been forced to tolerate noisy working conditions. Academic buildings reverberate with the sounds of construction as noises echo over the professors' voices. Many classrooms near construction sites cannot hold a session with the windows open. Instead, these rooms are forced to close their windows, resulting in poor circulation and extremely warm temperatures inside. Even with the windows closed, buildings that are close enough to a construction site can still clearly hear excessive noise. Perfect examples of this scenario are the odd numbered rooms inside of Montieth. Montieth has been extremely hard hit recently as a result of the construction between Montieth and the Budds Building. Academic buildings near the Student Union and near the site behind the Chemistry building also resound with noise. As a result of extremely loud noises such as jackhammering, many professors are forced to let class out early because their voices cannot compete with the noise from outside. Other professors try to raise their voice as much as possible in order to attempt to talk over noises. Either way, even if the professor can be audibly heard, outside noises as a result of construction are distracting. Construction is clearly a necessary evil for those of us here, and therefore, is something that must be tolerated. UConn is committed to rebuilding deteriorated infrastructure and building new academic buildings. While students must accept small inconveniences from construction, students and faculty should not be forced to accept deplorable learning conditions as a result of excessive noise. Students are here for the primary purpose of pursuing a strong academic curriculum through classes. Students pay high tuition dollars to UConn so that we can be taught in classrooms by outstanding faculty. Students are not attending UConn to listen to pounding, clanking and beeping of construction workers and vehicles. While little can be done to insulate those classrooms in close proximity to construction sites, the university should take every effort to ensure the primary purpose of this university is not jeopardized. Even without construction, the university is responsible for ensuring technology in the classroom, such as microphones, work so students can hear their professors. Students who have sat in a large lecture hall with a broken microphone know how difficult of an experience it can be when they cannot hear their professor. The same principles apply to situations with constructions around them. Large classrooms must be equipped with working microphones. The heating systems in buildings must be carefully monitored so that windows can be closed without suffocating students in order to block out construction noises. Those rooms with windows, which cannot be closed as a result of broken hinges, should have minor renovations so those windows can be closed. The administration is well aware of the sites undergoing construction. Specific initiatives should be undertaken to survey those professors teaching in rooms closest to construction. If these professors report difficulty even with the windows closed and usage of a microphone, the professor should have the ability to move their class to an alternate location on campus. In these extreme cases it may be advantageous to the academic setting if certain classes were allowed room changes as the result of excessive distractions. Most of the burden of remedying this problem should be with the administration. However, students and faculty members do have an obligation of preventing the situation from deteriorating further. If students cannot hear their professor as a result of construction, they should inform him or her of this. If students cannot concentrate as a result of construction, they should inform their professor. If such complaints due to construction are a regular occurrence, the teaching faculty member should inform the administration of the problem. What the administration decides to do with such a notification is the administration's ultimate choice, but it would be hoped that accommodations would be made to improve the situation. Additionally, if faculty members believe they are not teaching in an appropriate environment, the administration should be notified of such problems. It is important to make known issues such as this even if the expected response is slow. The environment in which a class is taught can make a great deal of a difference. Quiet and calm classrooms, where students can concentrate and hear their professors, are essential to an excellent education. Construction schedules cannot be altered. Instead, new and creative solutions must be implemented. The noise problem will not be going away anytime in the near future and therefore solutions should be implemented now. Construction will be existent on this campus for the next several years. It will inconvenience daily lives in terms of where we can walk. However, being an academic and research institution, construction should not be allowed to reduce the quality of education at UConn. Therefore, students and faculty must not be complacent with noisy distractions in the classroom. The administration must be pro-active in seeking out creative solutions to a problem, which will face this university for many more years to come as a result of 21st Century UConn.