After a quarter and a half of use, the new De Neve Learning and
Teaching Auditorium is being met with praise from students and
faculty alike who find both its location and modernized classroom
tools beneficial.
Located on the third floor of the Acacia building in the De Neve
residential complex, the De Neve auditorium has been used as a
lecture hall since last fall quarter.
The auditorium, which is currently being used by a majority of
the freshmen general education clusters, has received rave reviews
despite its distance from offices and other classes on campus.
“It’s worth the walk over there; it’s just so
perfect in terms of acoustics and luxurious environment,”
said Rita Effros, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine
and an instructor of the Frontiers in Human Aging cluster.
She said even though students may be coming from on-campus
classes beforehand, she does not notice an unusually large number
of latecomers.
Michael Mann, a professor in the History of Modern Thought
cluster, likes the “ultra-modern” auditorium, and he
doesn’t have to deal with the longer walk to De Neve; he was
given a special parking space close to the building.
Mann pointed out that the auditorium is bigger than necessary;
his class has 150 students enrolled in it though the room fits
around 300 people.
Effros asserted that the location in on-campus housing is good
for the clusters since they are supposed to be more of a social
experience than just classes.
She explained that they have taken advantage of what being in De
Neve offers: since her cluster ends at 5 p.m., the professors have
been able to have dinner with students in the De Neve dining hall.
After one exam, she had hot chocolate and cookies for students in a
nearby room.
Effros also said having audio-visual technicians to help
professors with presentations is helpful.
“It’s sort of unheard of elsewhere,” she said.
She explained that if a projector breaks down in other lecture
halls, the professor has to call a maintenance number, and help is
usually not available until after class.
Effros said that teaching class in De Neve is not problem-free,
since it is a residential building.
“One thing we have to watch for (is we) have to make sure
the doors of the auditorium are closed because there can be a lot
of noise in the hallway,” she said. “I think students
enjoy having class near where they live.”
Many cluster students agree that having class in De Neve is
convenient.
Brittany Yudkowsky, a first-year undeclared student, said she
finds the De Neve auditorium much nicer than most classrooms.
She said that the long walk from De Neve to her other classes is
not a big problem this quarter since she has 15 minutes to get from
her History of Modern Thought cluster to her Italian class
on-campus.
Yudkowsky explained that there is only a time crunch “if
the professors want to go over a bit.”
First-year biology student Mike Park said sometimes he sees
students leave early from History of Modern Thought, but does not
have a problem with having class in De Neve.
“I personally think there should be more classes closer to
the dorms,” Park said, adding that he enjoys eating lunch in
De Neve right after class.
General education clusters are currently the only lectures
located in on-campus housing, but several discussions and other
small classes ranging from education classes to Fiat Lux seminars
are taught in conference rooms in Rieber and Hedrick residential
halls, Covel Commons and De Neve.