A Word from Our Owners – Marian University & The Children’s Museum

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Audra Blasdel

Audra Blasdel graduated from DePauw University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Computer Science and received her Masters of Business Administration with a focus in global supply chain management from the University of Indianapolis in 2009. Prior to starting her own company–Blasdel Solutions, a WBE Certified Project Management and Business Analysis company–she served as Marian University’s Executive Director of Facilities, Construction, and Purchasing.

In her current role as Director of Facility and Campus Operations at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Audra is responsible for the day-to-day campus operations for maintenance, grounds, and custodial; strategic campus planning, and construction and renovations projects. She lives in Speedway, Indiana, with her husband and son.

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Structures and systems will require maintenance and periodic repair and rehabilitation (R&R) at some point. By keeping campus buildings running smoothly and efficiently, we are able to prolong a building’s lifetime while saving on overall future costs for our Owners. These seemingly “small projects” have a large impact for Owners and the end users. While our designers and engineers are obviously well-equipped to do the large-scale projects, we also are ready to help our Owners through R&R projects. Let’s hear from Audra on her experiences throughout the years.

How did a comprehensive understanding of your facility conditions impact R&R expenditures?

In general terms, it allows us to better plan for our expenditures and gives us a broader understanding of our needs. At Marian University, we brought Schmidt Associates in to do facilities strategic planning and a larger campus master plan, all derived from a 2025 strategic plan. We then needed to build the campus master plan and a facilities strategic plan so that we could take large capital needs and compare it to daily facility needs. This results in a coordinated and well-thought out investment plan.

For example, this helped make sure we didn’t do large system replacement when we would be doing an addition to that building in a few years. It helped build a knowledge base in a centralized place rather than in various individuals’ heads. This work with Schmidt Associates helped us be smarter and more responsible.

What role has Schmidt Associates played in helping you maintain facilities at both Marian University and The Children’s Museum?

Schmidt Associates has provided a baseline assessment of facilities with an investment/expenditure plan as well as some Owner-friendly tools that allow us to manage the plan going forward. Those plans are developed in a way that allows us to manipulate and adjust the plan as we go through implementation, ensuring that the plan stays relevant and usable.  Plans are often developed in a stagnant manner, and they quickly become stale and end up on the shelf.  Steve Schaecher, an architect at Schmidt Associates, even drew a comic at some point to joke about the master plan ‘graveyard’.

masterplan graveyard

That’s been the biggest benefit to working with Schmidt Associates on these plans: keeping the plan workable, usable, and modifiable so it plan doesn’t end up in that graveyard. The focus in working with Schmidt Associates has always been how we make it an owner-friendly plan that maintains its life.

What type of R&R projects has Schmidt Associates worked with you for?

R&R strategic planning projects have included the Marian University Campus Master Plan and Facilities Strategic Plan. We’re currently working on a strategic investment plan for the parking garage structure at The Children’s Museum. Schmidt Associates has also provided scopes of work, estimate checks, and preliminary assessments on a variety of large scale R&R projects, such as boiler replacements, electrical upgrades, plumbing retrofits, and accessibility upgrades.

Describe the process of working with Schmidt Associates.

For me, a lot of it has revolved around our long-lasting relationship over the past 7 years. This has included large- and small-scale projects and strategic planning. This opens the door for candid communication, something that is harder to have when everyone is new to the table. The consistency of who I work with and the way we work has allowed us to learn from each other and have an end product I can use going forward, which is really important. When I get a PDF that I have to regenerate documents out of, it’s not appealing. Facility priorities change every day and having a working document, not a stagnant document, is important for me on a strategic planning and R&R side.

A Word from our Owners – Greenwood Community Schools

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Mike Hildebrand

Mike Hildebrand is a retired Indiana State Police Detective with over 23 years of service. He began his career in education with the Pike County School Corporation in Petersburg, Indiana in 2003. Mike was hired by Greenwood Community Schools in 2014 as the Director of Operations. He is the Administrator over the facilities, grounds, maintenance, transportation, and School Safety. Mike enjoys everything about the Greenwood Community Schools System because it is a great place to work and a great place for an education. He says it is a corporation where everyone feels like family. Mike and his wife Ruthann reside in Greenwood, and they have four grown children and 10 grandchildren. Of course, he is also a huge Alabama Football fan. Roll Tide!

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When you walk through the new Greenwood Middle School, you can easily forget that you are even in a K-12 facility. The school is designed around a STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math) curriculum that engages students and staff in project-based learning opportunities. All 160,000 square feet, each of the three floors, every single educational space was built with the student in mind. We wanted to talk with Mike Hildebrand to see how the engineering systems bring everything together, creating an efficient learning environment for all.

Greenwood Middle School

Tell us a little about the why Greenwood needed a new Middle School.

I can say the new Middle School was an absolute necessity, not just for our students and staff, but for the community. If you hadn’t seen the old school, just imagine décor from the 60’s to the 90’s, old restrooms, dark hallways, outdated cabinets in the classrooms, poor lighting, and few windows. The HVAC system was as old as the student’s parents and some grandparents. This new middle school is a better setting for our students. The better the learning atmosphere, the more desire there is to attend school. This gets teachers more excited to teach. Even the food tastes better in the new cafeteria!

The entire school is now welcoming, has easy lines of sight, and the aesthetics are wonderful. Just enough to make it appealing without the cost of fancy features.

Have you seen an increased level of occupant comfort in the new building?

Comfort is a must in every classroom setting. The Siemens control system is wonderful. The features are easy to understand, and changing a room or area’s temperature is a breeze. The ability to go to a night or unoccupied set back has saved us a considerable amount on utilities as well. Our custodial and maintenance staff dove in head first and are continuing to learn new tricks every day. The air quality is also a vast improvement from our old middle school, which had some sections starting from 1960’s.

The design of the facility itself makes the visual observation of students during the passing periods simple. One faculty member can stand at the junction of the two wings and see both halls from one vantage point. The design and features of today’s school has changed so much since I was in school, back in the 60’s and 70’s. The newest technology is used in every classroom, students are learning robotics at a much younger age, and every aspect of this facility was discussed to determine if this was going to benefit our students for the better. This facility was designed just to do that very thing. It was done the Greenwood way.

How has the learning environment improved daily life here at Greenwood Middle School – for the students, teachers, and those maintaining the new systems?

As you know, lighting is an important feature in any educational facility. Having gone from our old school’s lighting to new LED is absolutely a huge improvement, both for the students and staff. The automatic light features that turn on/off upon entry was a huge success with our staff. The dimmer capabilities are used almost daily by all of our staff while instruction is taking place with the overhead units onto the whiteboard marker walls. Each classroom has outdoor light access as well, offering the inviting ray of sunshine in for our students.

The HVAC units are definitely a well-received item and the biggest change from old univent systems to the new buildings system. No more high fan speed noise disrupting instruction, and no more too cold or too hot depending on where you sit in the room. The capability to change the temp + or – 3 degrees at the thermostat is awesome. Students learn better when they are comfortable in their environment.

In the old school, each classroom had a univent system. When there was a failure you could count on at least a 4-hour repair as you had to pull the unit from the wall, make the repairs, and then put it back in place. What a difference the vertical unit ventilation systems have made. Easy access, easier repairs, and less time consuming for our maintenance staff. Even the filter change is simpler and can take only a couple of minutes.

In general, what have you heard from staff, teachers, parents, and students about the new school?

Superintendent Dr. Kent DeKoninck and Asst. Superintendent Mr. Todd Pritchett were an integral part of the success of the construction and completion of our new school. All of the physical aspects–the aesthetics, flooring, cafeteria area, media center and classrooms–have been praised by students, staff, and community. Our easy access points for the office area during the school day or the secondary entrance for our indoor athletic events are very welcoming without going over the top in costs.

The pride of Greenwood Community Schools has once again peaked to the point of happiness. Even our residential neighbors have had nothing but good things to say about what once used to be a farm field to now becoming a modern and beautiful school facility. In short, no one is more pleased than our students, our parents, our staff and our school leaders. We could not have hoped for more than what we’ve received in our new Greenwood Middle School.

How would you describe the process of working with Schmidt Associates, specifically the engineering team?

My experience of working with Schmidt Associates has been wonderful, from the design portion all the way through to completion. Even with minor punch list items remaining a year in now, the cooperative effort has been amazing.

As issues would arise during the construction, the Schmidt team would provide detailed alternatives to the issues, have quick remedies as a solution, and implement the changes into the plan. Our relationship with Schmidt Associates has become one of trust, and their team of experts have addressed our needs and concerns in a timely manner.

Greenwood Community Schools has also used Schmidt Associates on other projects, and we are in the process of beginning yet another project at our High School.

 

If you think we can help with your next project, reach out to us!

 

A Word from our Owners – Marian University

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Russ Kershaw

Dr. Russ Kershaw has been the Dean of the Byrum School of Business at Marian University since 2010. Previously, he was the Dean of the School of Business Administration at Philadelphia University and also has held various positions at Butler University. Before entering the academic world, Russ spent 13 years in corporate America. During this time he held a variety of financial management positions at both Digital Equipment Corporation and General Electric. Russ holds a B.S. degree in accounting from Bentley College, an MBA from Babson College, and a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of South Carolina. He is also a graduate of General Electric’s Financial Management Program.

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With growing enrollment in the Byrum School of Business, Marian University needed a facility that supported the school’s unique, experiential approach to learning. Breathing new life into this early 1900 facility, the addition and renovation of this facility has given the business school prominence on campus. Hear from Dr. Kershaw about how this new facility caters to Marian University students, professors, and the surrounding community.

Marian COB front

Addition to Historic Building

Tell us a little about the College of Business project and how the building is benefiting campus:

It was a significant addition to the Marian University academic facilities. In six short months, it has become a very popular facility across campus. Not only the classrooms, but the presentation room and the board room. The spaces are popular across campus and outside of campus with companies holding meetings in the board room and presentation room, which are being used as we speak by an outside organization. They are very flexible in design and can be set up in different formats to accommodate a five-person or 90-person meeting. The technology is there to support the needs of each group.

This is the coolest academic building on campus right now, other than the medical school. During the school year, med students are coming here to use the team rooms to study in. It helps that we have a Subway restaurant inside our building so people can get food. It’s become a very popular place, and all the spaces are being widely used across campus in its entirety.

We’ve only been in the business school for one semester, but the way to describe it is ‘that it was designed precisely for our program.’ We do a lot of project work, team-based teaching, experiential learning. This facility was designed for that, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the classroom layouts and the use of the presentation and board room. It’s designed perfectly for the way we teach business at Marian University.

How important is the student to student, student to faculty, and faculty to faculty interaction? Where did this occur in your old spaces? Where is it now?

It’s critical to our program. We have shifted from the traditional read a text book, come to class, listen to a lecture, and take a test while sitting in nice neat rows facing the professor and taking notes. We now have shifted to a project based learning mode where we are teaching accounting, economic, finance, marketing, etc. all while doing projects for real clients with key concepts. The students are constantly working in teams collaborating, so our classrooms are modular. If you looked at our classrooms right now, most are set up in pods of 5-6 students because that’s how we teach.

The communication among students and faculty is a different ball game in our program than a traditional one-way professor to student interaction.  The space is designed to make that happen, encourage it, and make it easy to do. It’s two-way, and the faculty is a facilitator instead of a professor. They roam the classroom answering questions and asking questions. They meet with individual groups to help or listen to the students present in the presentation hall. Sometimes it’s a practice presentation before the ‘grand finale’ at the end of the semester. It’s not a final exam anymore, it’s a presentation to the client they were doing the project for.

In our old facility, we were in old style classrooms with fixed seating or the chairs with their own folding desk. In some classrooms it was virtually impossible to teach our curriculum with the space we have. This new space is critical to the program we have built.

Pod-Style Classroom

As you walk through the building each day, how much of the ‘accidental interaction’ spaces are being used?

When students are here, it’s constant. Outside of the main classroom area, the soft seating area is constantly filled with students and faculty. It’s like a Starbucks with many impromptu meetings, waiting before or after class, etc. This open area is great to have in addition to the extensively used, more private team rooms.

The presentation room, when it’s not in use for a presentation with the glass door closed, the door is purposely left open. Students meet on the stairs, eat lunch in there, maybe even take a nap! (I just ask them to use a low stair if they are going nap so they don’t roll all the way down). It gets used quite a bit when it is open because it is a cool space with all the light, windows, and high ceilings. It has become the center piece and show off point for the building. People say ‘wow’ when they see it, and they like to be in it. There’s also plenty of outlets for them to charge their devices in the spaces, which is critical.

COB Spaces

Student Lounge Space and Presentation Room

How would you describe the process of working with Schmidt Associates?

I was mostly involved in the design phase as opposed to construction phase, so I can’t speak to the construction details. From a design stand point, it couldn’t have been better. It probably helped that Sarah Hempstead is a member of the Business School Advisory Board. It worked well because she was very aware of the curriculum and intimately involved with understanding how we teach. This really helped with the design process. If I had a thought or idea, Sarah could finish my sentence because she knew what I was thinking. I didn’t have to explain anything. From my perspective, it was awesome to work with someone who knew what we wanted to accomplish.

Anything else?

We are over the moon and ecstatic about the facility. When we opened last January, which was our second semester, the students were shocked when they came and saw the space designed for them. They were excited to be in such a cool facility. It’s great to see that reaction and know they are grateful and proud of the school.

 

If you think we can help with your next project, reach out to us!

 

A Word from our Owners – Shelbyville Central Schools

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David Adams, Shelbyville Central SchoolsDr. David Adams has 36 years of service in public school systems, all in Indiana. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education at Ball State University, Masters of Science from Indiana University, Ed. S from Ball State University, and Ph.D. in Education Administration from Indiana State University. He will retire next year, after completing his fourteenth year as superintendent of Shelbyville Central Schools. He and his wife, Dr. Cindy

Adams, have two married children and two grandchildren.

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When Marsh Supermarkets closed up shop in 2017, there have been numerous literal empty holes in the communities they served. A year later, there are still several dilapidated stores sitting as vacant eyesores around Indiana. However, some communities have taken initiative and capitalized on this large amount of empty potential.

We often look at historic structures as the best candidates for adaptive reuse, however, any underutilized facility could be a good potential reuse opportunity. Schmidt Associates has been fortunate to help reimagine a church into a dynamic bar/restaurant, a hospital into a top of the line Higher Education facility, an old bank into a beautiful lobby and social hub, and now we are turning our sights to a former strip mall.

An abandoned, 63,000-square-foot complex–once housing a Marsh grocery store, retail area, restaurant, movie rental store, and a bank–will be transforming into something usable for Shelbyville Central Schools and the community. A new preschool will go into the grocery store area, Senses space will go into the retail spaces, and a bank will turn into administrative offices for the school corporation. Here at Schmidt Associates, we were up to the challenge of turning neglected, wide-open retail space into something productive for the community. Mayor Tom DeBaun said in his interview with The Shelbyville News, “with the plans they have, the things they are going to do for that facility, it’s growing their capacity and it’s stabilizing a neighborhood.”

We sat down with Dr. Adams to get his take on this unique and transformative project.

Shelbyville Preschool Main entry

Tell us how this project will benefit the students:

When Marsh Supermarket closed their Shelbyville store in 2011, the building remained vacant for many years. Shelbyville Central Schools saw an opportunity to turn it into something that could greatly benefit the community and school corporation.

Over time, we’ve found that we have many children entering school with diverse needs and are years behind in academic development before they even begin kindergarten. Their chances of success are very low. To address this problem, we want to establish this preschool to provide early intervention to better meet the needs of our students and community.

When you look at the dropout rates, you can often predict those students when you look at their lack of success throughout school. Our goal with this project is to get these 3- and 4-year-olds on track, and keep them there. Early intervention is the key in forming the beginning skills and habits necessary for students to be successful in their educational pursuits. It leads to a more positive learning experience, academic achievement, and higher graduation rates. We are also excited for the opportunity to have the chance to expand on our special needs program with this project.

An old Marsh is a unique location for a new preschool. Can you talk a little more about that?

Long term vacant buildings in a community sends the wrong message. Shelbyville Central Schools has been thinking about doing a new preschool for years, so we thought we could do a favor to the community by repurposing the empty Marsh building. Taking what was an eyesore and turning it into a new, attractive preschool benefits everyone. Schools are very important when it comes to attracting new business and young families to an area, which is why we believe this building will be an asset for all.

Shelbyville Preschool - admin entry

Proposed Rendering – Administrative Entrance

What are the most important aspects of an early childhood project, from your perspective?

Education has become very competitive, so there is a need to constantly market to prospective families. People can choose to enroll their children in any school corporation with open enrollment. Shelbyville Central Schools’ commitment to a quality education for children of all ages is made even more evident with the addition of this facility and the enhanced focus on early childhood education.

It is obvious that having an appropriate, solid educational curriculum is the most important aspect of early childhood education. But the building’s aesthetics, interior and exterior, are also important. When a parent drives by or is first walking up to the school, the exterior needs to draw them. The interior should prove it can meet the students’ needs.

This preschool is going to serve as a gateway into our K-12 schools, giving children a good start to their school career. We want parents to feel excited and comfortable to enroll their child in our preschool. We want to keep them within our community for the long-term, as well as attract new families.

How would you describe the process of working with Schmidt Associates?

I’ve worked on several projects with Schmidt Associates in the past. The experiences have always been positive, and the leadership is very strong. What I like most about Schmidt Associates, is their client-focus. They listen to your needs and work closely with you throughout the project. Millions of tax dollars are invested in school corporation projects, and Schmidt Associates excels in consistently providing the highest quality results.

I have worked with Sarah Hempstead throughout the years and have developed a level of trust and good communication with her. I am confident that Sarah and the Schmidt Associates team can guide our school corporation in the right direction, look out for our best interest, and have the skills to produce a quality facility for Shelbyville Central Schools and the Shelbyville community.

 

If you think we can help with your next project, reach out to us!

A Word from our Owners – Ball State University

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David Shepherd Ball StateDavid Shepherd – Facilities Engineer, Ball State University 

David is a Facilities Engineer at Ball State University where he coordinates, designs, and oversees construction of mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, including projects from small maintenance repair and replacements to large capital improvement projects and new construction.

David has over 15 years of professional experience in consulting engineering, construction and facility management. He also supports the skilled trade shops at Ball State from an engineering standpoint, overseeing training of new systems and managing all commissioning activities.

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Schmidt Associates has worked with Ball State University on several large capital projects. Recently, we’ve been providing engineering services for various facility maintenance projects across campus.

 

How do you approach operation and maintenance for your facilities?

As far as operations go, you must look at things with the future in mind. We always try to plan for what we think is going to happen down the road. You need to make it a key point within the maintenance group that they understand how preventative maintenance is key to the longevity of the equipment and our facilities. I push that a lot with our shops – during training sessions, they need to listen and take notes. For example, you may need to use a specific kind of grease on a specific type of bearing. If they don’t get it right, that will lead to early failure of equipment.

 

What are the most important aspects of a project from the Operations and Maintenance perspective?

The quality of the installation from the contractors is critical from an operations and maintenance standpoint. If they don’t install equipment properly, that can lead to early failures. Getting the team trained properly is also one of the most important aspects.

While in the design phase, the most important aspect, in my opinion, is that they listen to our recommendations and follow our Ball State standards. That is what I struggle with sometimes, I need the team to realize there is a reason that we have these standards. We need them to do what we want them to do not what they think is the best. We have created these standards from past experiences.

 

What do you see as a future trend in higher education facilities?

I would say the one thing, from my MEP aspect, is lighting. Everything is going to LED, with more capabilities for color tuning and controls. This improves the environment as far as people’s attitudes and general health – LED is more natural and brighter when compared to dingy fluorescents.

 

How would you describe the process of working with Schmidt Associates on BSU housing?

The quality has been very good. It helps because the Schmidt Associates team has been working at Ball State for a long time. They understand our facilities people and our standards. It makes it easier for us when we don’t have to waste a bunch of time trying to fix mistakes because the team already understands what we want.

Another thing is they are always quick to act when an issue comes up. Ryan Benson has been a great advocate for us, he pushes back on contractors when we need him to. He has been one of the best architects I’ve worked with because he truly understands who he is working for.

The engineers have been great at picking up things I’ve commented on and recommending ways to make a system better that I didn’t think about before.

 

Anything else you would like to add that I might have missed?

From my standpoint, I just want everyone to understand how critical it is to maintain our equipment so we get the life expectancy out of it. Maintenance and quality installations are the two points I want to drive home!

 

If you have any facility operation and maintenance questions, reach out to us!

 

A Word from our Owners – The Salvation Army Indiana Division

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Majors Bob and Collette WebsterMajor Bob Webster – Divisional Commander, The Salvation Army Indiana Division

Major Robert Webster is a graduate of Asbury College with a degree in physical education and recreation. He also holds a Masters of Ministry degree from Olivet Nazarene University. Prior to becoming a Salvation Army officer, he worked as a physical education teacher for the Tampa, FL public school system and as a Community Center and Recreation Director in Atlanta and Indianapolis.

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Schmidt Associates regularly has Owners ask us about Facility Assessments and Master Plans, and how they can help guide their decisions. This month we took a minute to talk with The Salvation Army Indiana Division about how we helped them with both a comprehensive Facility Assessment and a Master Plan.

 

What made you realize The Salvation Army in Indiana needed a Facility Assessment and Master Plan?

We recognized we have a lot of facilities with no plan for operations and maintenance, and we had no way to determine what state they were all in. We wanted to know the health of the facilities, and try to evaluate how much would be necessary to spend to bring them back to an acceptable standard of health.

The entire process took longer than we thought it would get it done, but we had to take things to our advisory board and property committees. While the Facility Assessment and Master Plan were being developed, we also had a feasibility study done for a possible capital campaign. This all compounded what we thought would take a couple of months, and took longer since there is always a next step of approval.

The assessment of the facilities itself however went quickly. The Schmidt Associates team went to the facilities, gathered information, and wrote a thorough report.

How has the Master Planned guided your actions?

It helped us tremendously in the fact that combined with the assessment tool, it helped us to focus our priorities to better facilitate our clients, the people we work with every day. The Master Plan helped us recognize what steps were needed, and in what order, to get our vision done. We couldn’t do that without having a secure foundation. It allowed us to focus on what needed to be done and how to spend our resources.

At our camp, we were trying to figure out what the best way to spend the money would be. We wanted to expand, but also had liabilities with the existing facilities needing to be brought up to an acceptable manner. This was done alongside the Schmidt Associates team and provided recommendations of what needed to be done first.

Overall, we’re pleased with the process. It was enlightening how much we really needed to get done because the study was so thorough. It made us aware of all the intricacies needed to stay functional.

Did it change what you thought you needed to do from a facilities perspective? If so, how?

We knew there was a lot of work that needed to be done at our Headquarters, so we needed to figure out if we should invest in our existing building or relocate. When the neighbors decided to buy our building, it made the decision easier to put the money from the sale towards the new property instead of spending money to remodel. Had we invested in a remodel, we would not have been able to get additional square footage and additional parking. By relocating, we were able to invest in a larger space to better suit our needs.

In our other facilities, it helped us set a priority of what needed to be done first. We knew the HVAC at Harbor Light was a priority. However, this wouldn’t have been the first thing we did if it wasn’t for the study. Ironically, as the study finished, the chiller at Harbor Light died, which made us realize the report was providing us an accurate priority.

We found out things we didn’t want to spend money on, but recognized we needed to so we could move forward. It allowed our board to understand the necessity and reason since it was a third-party recommendation.

Describe the process of working with Schmidt Associates?

It was certainly pleasant. They are very knowledgeable in what they do. They did a great job of explaining it to non-technical individuals allowing us to understand each priority and need. The customer service was wonderful and the organization is run with excellent leadership. We recommend them to organizations all the time.

 

If we can help you assess or master plan your facilities, reach out!

A Word from our Owners – Ivy Tech Bloomington

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Pam-Thompson-Bloomington Pam Thompson – Dean of the School of Nursing, Ivy Tech Community College – Bloomington

Pam has served as Dean for the School of Nursing at the Ivy Tech Bloomington campus since 2010. Prior to that, she served in the roles of Program chair for the Associate of Science Nursing Program and faculty for the School of Nursing. She has been with the college for 30 years.

 

 

Jennie-Vaughan-BloomingtonJennie Vaughan – Chancellor, Ivy Tech Community College – Bloomington

Jennie was appointed Chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College’s Bloomington campus in 2014. An employee of Ivy Tech Bloomington for over 19 years, prior to being named Chancellor – Jennie served in a variety of roles, including Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Executive Director of Human Resources. Jennie has more than 30 years of experience in higher education, beginning her career as Registrar and Director of Operations at the University of San Francisco.

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Schmidt Associates is hearing from more Universities looking to grow, expand, or enhance their hands-on learning facilities. We took a minute to talk with Ivy Tech Community College – Bloomington about the expansion of their School of Nursing to provide you insights for your own campus.

How has your new space transformed the nursing program at Ivy Tech Bloomington?

The biggest piece is the growth in our lab space. In our ‘main’ building, where we were located prior to this new space, we had one nursing lab. Within that lab existed our simulation lab space, so we were either doing simulations or skills labs.

In the new building, the Marchant School of Nursing which is across the street, our lab space more than doubled. We now have two separate spaces, skills on one end of the building and simulation on the other. This allows us to double the number of students we can teach at a time.

Our new space provides us with room to grow our enrollment, which is right now limited by faculty and clinical space available.

 

What feedback do you hear about how the space enhances the program?

Students love simulation. They are always asking for more. We try to drop two simulations into each course, and the space allows us to do this. The simulation puts the students at the bed side with a non-human and we re-create the entire scenario like they are in the hospital without putting any patients at risk.

The fact that the students and faculty can stay in one building and be readily available to each other is great. Faculty seem to be more readily available to students because of the size of the space. The faculty is closer together now sharing office space, and they collaborate more amongst themselves, and with the students. There’s also space that is just for the nursing students which creates program comradery.

The building adds so much to campus and is great for retention and recruitment. We were worried about students being connected to the main academic building across the road, but that hasn’t been an issue. The students all express a sense of pride for having a space of their own. We also have more dedicated classroom space now. It makes scheduling easier and everything runs a little smoother because of the space.

 

If a University is looking to build a new school of nursing, what advice would you share?

Hard wire for as many computer stations as you can. Make sure everything is flexible in its use. You might all of a sudden need 100 students in a classroom. Make sure you design for it.

We love our lounge spaces, but have found we could use even more. Our students, as in most nursing schools, are there all day. They come in each morning, bring a lunch with them, and stay all day. The lounges become where they eat, relax, study, and interact with each other. They are used a lot! Something we didn’t design for since this was an existing building was student lockers. Since the students spend so much time in the building, they have requested lockers, which we have added. Make sure to understand your students’ needs so you can accommodate, and always be flexible.

If we can help you plan for or design a hands-on learning space, reach out!

A Word from our Owners – Lake Central Athletics

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Lake-Central-Owner-Blog

Hear from two of our Owners on the addition/renovation of Lake Central High School athletic spaces:

Dr. Larry Veracco, Superintendent of the Lake Central School Corporation

Dr. Larry Veracco is in his 8th year as Superintendent at LCSC. He has spent 24 years serving the community as teacher, assistant principal, and Assistant Superintendent prior to his current role. Over the past decade, numerous upgrades to the district’s 10 schools and two support facilities have been completed.

Bill Ledyard, Director of Facilities at Lake Central School Corporation

Bill Ledyard is in his 10th year as the Lake Central Director of Construction and Facilities. Prior to Lake Central he spent over 20 years as a Project Manager, Senior Project Manager, and Director of Construction working on numerous projects throughout the United States.

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What role do athletics play for your school corporation?

All our extracurriculars are extremely important to us as an organization and to our community. As we try to develop well-rounded graduates, athletics play a huge role in our effort. We’ve found students who connect to the school beyond the classroom get better grades, behave better, and connect with staff or coaches better. Historically, we’ve had high participation rates in our athletic program, and our goal is to maintain or increase those rates. The new spaces allow us to do that.

How often are the facilities used ‘after hours’ and what’s the impact it has on the community?

Let’s talk about the pool first. We put a lot of pressure on the Schmidt Associates’ project team to have the pool as part of phase 1 because of our giant swim club and community demands. The pool is used all day: starting with the Masters program in the morning, followed by preschool classes and the High School teams. The Club Team then practices from 4-8pm each weekday evening. It’s the most heavily used facility we have on our campus.

The fieldhouse provided us with the opportunity for more student and community engagement. We now can have intramural volleyball teams, and we’ve hosted various fundraisers in this space. The spaces is also equipped with tennis standards, giving the teams free indoor practice space during the offseason. The community is also able to use the space for walking 2 days a week. Due to temperatures, they’ve asked us to extend it a few more weeks till April 30th which we are accommodating.

Let’s talk about your outdoor facilities?

I brag all the time about the turf baseball and softball because if you go out today, they look like they were installed last week. Our staff, students, and athletes have done a fantastic job of keeping the spaces beautiful. We never see garbage on them, and students even pick up leaves to put in the trash so they don’t get crushed into the turf.

The various athletic teams do a great job of working together to share the fields and keep everything nice. To help maintain our natural turf soccer field and give it a rest in July and August, the team can now put portable goals into the baseball outfield or football field for practice.

Did Lake Central School Corporation have any artificial turf before the High School? If no, what drove the decision to go with artificial turf and how do you like it?

We had natural turf fields prior to this project. The multi-use factor is what made us want to switch to artificial turf. There was a need for more outdoor PE class space and due to our climate, by the time natural fields were nice, the seasons were over.

Transitioning the football field was an easy choice because it is used so much. Prior to the artificial turf, the football field was always a sand lot by the end of the season, no matter what maintenance we did.

A bonus has been the significant decrease in our maintenance costs; whether it was dealing with crushed brick or weeds, all of that went away. And now we only get rained out if there is lightening or heavy rain on game day.

What feedback do you hear from the students, educators, and community about the athletic spaces at Lake Central High School?

We consistently hear from the community how nice the facilities are and they can’t believe they are actually ‘ours’. We continue to receive tremendous praise from the community that we did it right. All the new spaces receive compliments from our residents and guests.

We hosted the High School Basketball Sectionals for the first time in our high school’s history this past year. It was just the right size, even at 80-90% capacity. The atmosphere was electric, and we got praise for that by both the media and the fans of our opponents.

Anything else?

Not sure it fits into these questions, but the way Schmidt Associates helped us design the upgrades to make more spaces for our student athletes affects how they practice after school. We now can get them home for dinner and there is time later in the evening for out of season sports teams to workout.

The innovative, cost-effective, and functional designs developed by Schmidt Associates have resulted in cutting-edge spaces for our students and staff. The team listens to the our needs and wants and designs projects to accommodate their clients.

 

“Throughout my career, I’ve worked with many architectural firms. Working with Schmidt Associates on the Lake Central projects over the past decade has very rewarding.”

– Bill Ledyard

LCHS Athletics Gallery

A Word from an Owner – Anne Penny Valentine

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Anne Penny Valentine
Vice President, Student Experience and Customer Service 
Ivy Tech Community College

We’ve had the privilege of working with Anne over the years on Ivy Tech projects and presentations regarding our work. We wanted to sit down with her to get her take on one of our projects, the renovation of the Ivy Tech Central Office downtown Indy.

 

What was the office space like before the renovation?

The challenge with this building was that it is 3 different buildings brought together, and we were a similar hodge-podge with multiple kitchenettes, desks, break out rooms, supplies closets, etc. The offices were all really small and only half of them had windows.

Attempts were made to group functional areas together, but as the size of groups fluctuated, departments moved. I was personally in a different area than the rest of my team. It wasn’t very functional.

What is the office space like now?

Now, we have a versatile space. Every space can be used by anyone, and people work near the people they interact with. Since the renovation, we‘ve had a lot of organizational changes, and the space has allowed us to accommodate those changes while still working within the space.

The flexibility of the meeting spaces is great. We have a large variety of sizes of conference rooms, along with focus rooms. The focus rooms’ designs range to accommodate a single individual or small groups. We also combined the kitchenettes into one space, resulting in a more informal space for interaction among colleagues that didn’t happen before the renovation.

Focus Rooms

Larger Conference Room and Desks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Describe the process of working with Schmidt Associates.

We had a cross-functional group of people – HR, finance, student affairs (me), and academics who met regularly to help come up with what we wanted this to look like. The great thing about Schmidt Associates was that they helped guide the discussions to make sure the space would meet our needs. They took us on tours of other open office spaces so we could visualize the results. This process was particularly important since it allowed us to see spaces that were so different than our offices at the time.

We didn’t take every recommendation from Schmidt Associates, and we also had big ideas that we couldn’t afford. Schmidt Associates helped us rank the priorities so we could maximize the budget. Our old maze of offices is now open with clear glass walls, making it easier to find people and interact with co-workers.

Has this affected office culture? If so, in what ways

This has completely changed the culture of how we interact. In some ways it’s been great, and in some ways, it has been challenging. Figuring out how to respect others whom need more focus can be a challenge. You need to be mindful of the people around you, which we never needed to do beforehand. We have extroverts and introverts. Some need headphones so they can focus.

I have a better sense of who all my co-workers are now that I can see them. It’s interesting seeing the personality of other departments come out under this new layout. Some areas decorate for different holidays, some celebrate birthdays or accomplishments with donuts and other snacks. Now that it is an open office environment, you can go grab a donut and have casual interaction with your co-workers, which is great.

Has the renovation improved efficiencies?

Prior to the renovation, we had multiple kitchenettes, storage rooms, desktop printers in every office (and they were all different!). Being able to consolidate into one kitchen area with fewer storage rooms has reduced redundant supply orders. We can actually press print from our computers and go to any printer, use our FOB, and our document prints. There’s no more loading a printer or walking across the office to the printer nearest your desk. It’s been great.

Dining Area

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A huge bonus has been natural light no matter where you go. This is extremely important in the middle of winter to see natural light, which we never had before. Some departments don’t even turn on the overhead lights anymore because they get enough natural light through the windows, which is great.

For those whom open space is difficult, we have plenty of focus rooms and they are regularly used. This has been important for both individuals, and small group meetings. We never needed to worry about noise before since everyone was in offices. Now, we have the flexibility to accommodate everyone’s personal work preference.

 

To view more project details, check out the project page or the Flickr album.

A First Timer’s Guide to an Architectural Project

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Q&A with Dr. Kent Pettet – Franklin Township: Bunker Hill Elementary Principal.

Dr. Kent Pettet grew up in the Region of Indiana and attended Indiana University. His first job was teaching 5th Grade at Boone Grove Elementary School in Porter Township School Corporation. He moved to Colorado for five years while his wife went to grad school. He taught and became an Administrator before moving back to Indiana – now the Indianapolis area. After a few positions, he found his now home as Principal at Bunker Hill Elementary with the MSD of Franklin Township and loves the district.

Had you ever worked in a school during a renovation?

When I first came back to Indiana and started at Stout Field, Wayne Township was finishing a series of projects, but construction was just about done when I started. The renovation at Bunker Hill Elementary was my first time being a part of the whole planning process: looking at possible future educational trends, budget, schedule, etc.

 

Did you have any expectations going into it?

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into it. My district contact who was leading the project had talked with me about the total project budget, but I didn’t know what things actually cost. I was asked to create a list of things I felt needed to be updated and areas that needed improvement, so I did. I wasn’t even sure who lead the first meeting once we got started, or what to expect.

 

Was there anything you could have been given to help with your expectations?

Not really. When I went into the first meeting, everyone really listened to what I felt the school needed, I used the phrase “campus enhancement.” And everyone listened to what I felt those pieces were. I had no idea what anything would cost, so I didn’t know what was realistic.  At the 2nd meeting, Schmidt Associates had developed cost estimates for the various campus enhancements I suggested. I was then able to get a grasp of what was realistic.

I felt integral in the process of picking out what we were going do. A lot things I suggested (the parking lot and stairs, new lower level storefront, etc.) made it through to the final piece. I also tried to look at things through the school lens. I made sure maintenance personnel were involved. They know the lifecycle of things like the chiller and water heater, so I felt it was important for them to be informed during design.

 

Looking back. Is there anything you would do differently?

Not really. We hit some stressors, but it was because of our aggressive timeline. All my contacts at Schmidt Associates were prompt responding to calls and emails. When I had questions, I got good answers and things were explained well, no matter who we were talking to.

The one thing was a water fountain. We couldn’t visualize the solution being proposed, so it would have been nice to be able to see it.

Overall, I felt comfortable, maybe too comfortable, asking questions and getting answers. I felt it was a great experience and our school looks beautiful. It is night and day different and the timing is perfect as we are celebrating 100 years of the school.  The walls and lights are brighter. The cafeteria looks good and the stairs we connected to the classrooms help make it feel like a west coast campus being able to walk outdoors.

 

Any advice to a first-time principal?

Ask lots of questions. I was never afraid to ask lots of questions, so I would. We make assumptions, especially about things we think we know when it isn’t in our area of expertise. We don’t really know what it will take from a cost perspective or time perspective. A ceiling grid replacement isn’t as easy as you think. You need to look at the fire sprinklers, the electrical, wiring, lighting, etc. So be sure to ask as many questions as possible.