Students, faculty move back to affected areas
Last year, the Arts, Communication and Theatre (ACT) department was affected by widespread mold in the Drama Arts building. The issue caused classes and faulty to be relocated at the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester.
The mold was caused by an equipment failure in the building that left an environment for mold to grow.
The university has completed the mold renovation with an updated and new HVAC system that is able to control the humidity of the building to prevent the issue from occurring again, officials said.
“After a campus-wide equipment failure last summer, the Drama-Arts (DA) building experienced mold issues that were exacerbated by an older HVAC system that was not able to properly remove humidity from the building after the campus wide equipment failure was resolved,” Director of Marketing and Communication Adriana Flores-Garza said. “DA was the only building with mold issues after that equipment failure. It is important to note that the HVAC system in DA was already scheduled to be replaced when this central equipment failure occurred. The mold in DA was addressed prior to the installation of the new HVAC System last fall.”
With the new HVAC system in place, the university doesn’t foresee dealing with mold in the building again. Faculty and staff note it’s not the first time they’ve dealt with mold in the building.
“Because of the mold issues last summer and out of an abundance of caution, the DA students/faculty were relocated while the HVAC system was updated. Now that the HVAC system is in place and humidity levels in the building are within the normal range for our area, occupants can return to the building,” Flores-Garza said.
Students, faculty and staff were relocated to classrooms outside of the DA building, including in Sam Fore, Manning Hall and the Bellamah Music Building.
Fulden Wissinger, associate professor of art, had classes relocated during this time.
“Moving in the middle of the semester, it was difficult for us,” she said.
Wissinger helped move equipment out of Bellamah during the summer after they were given permission to move back into the DA building.
“They just moved [us] to the old music buildings. It was a large room and we had to share with two other faculty members. It wasn’t an easy situation for us but that’s what they did for us, that’s what was possible, because these are not a lecture class. We have to have a studio and they have to be close to the main building. This was the only option I believe,” Wissinger said.
Air quality samples were taken to test mold levels before the building was cleared.
“I’m aware that the air quality sampling that was done has come back significantly lower than it previously was. In fact it’s lower than the outside, which is a normal result for mold,” ACT Department Chair Todd Lucas said. “I was also told that previously there was a spike in one of the molds and that they couldn’t find outside so it’s something specific to the building, but since then that does not exist.”
Lucas called the move stressful, but says arts faculty handled the situation well.
“Well, we’ve got some great faculty that’s on the arts side that actually just rallied the kids and pulled through really well, so I mean I’m actually really proud of that whole group. They did a good job,” Lucas said.
Classes are scheduled to resume in the DA building at the start of fall as faculty start to move back into offices and classrooms.
Though the university has assured the issue is resolved and they don’t foresee any reoccurrence, those who dealt with the situation hands-on have a different view.
“If I look at historical occurrences of this, there is a possibility because it has previously occurred two other times that I am aware of before this last incident,” Lucas said.