View FMP Comments

The comments below were received via the FMP Comments button on the COD Website.

Where are the rest of the ideas that were given to the survey team?  We discussed modifications and new buildings to the surveyors and haven't seen that any of that information was considered or assessed.  (HSE)

I was extremely disappointed that again the second classroom at the Early CHildhood Building is being ignored in this plan.  Over the past 5 years we have experienced a 27% increase in the number of students and a 39% increase in the number of sections in our ECE program.  We are restricted by only having one classroom available at a time in proximity to our observation/demonstration classroom (McCarthy Center).  Furthermore, it is a serious safety issue in the evenings as we are in a remote part of campus.  Alone.  The parking lot next to a children's center is also a serious safety issue.

The parking structure placement will effectively cut off the students taking classes in the ECE 101 building. We already feel isolated from campus. This will make us feel less safe and will be an eyesore.

1. By re-purposing the Social Science building and demolishing the DM building, the math department would lose 3 computer labs (Soc 15, Soc 12 and one in DM) as well as several classrooms and office spaces.
After some consideration the Math department would like to propose to make the Science/Business building (Building A) into Science/Math building. We believe Math and Science should be kept together.

2. We also noticed that there are 2 CIS are planned to be built but no CS labs are planned. I just wanted to make sure you guys know that CIS  (Computer Information Systems) and CS (computer Science) are different programs in this school. Computer Science (CS) is in need of 2 labs and I just want to make you aware of this and I wanted to ask if there any plans to make this happen.

Comments made at the 3/19/18 Facilities Meeting that they have concerns about additional space needs. Science and Business faculty both stated future growth projections. Consider adding a third story to buildings "A" and "B" now.

With the Hilb Building no longer being available as a large, multi-use, indoor, air-conditioned space, COD no longer has any such space that can handle 300-500+ people except for the gym. But such uses for the gym have a negative impact on the intended instructional use of that space. Examples of events for which such space is needed include Commencement line-up, the Scholarship Donor Reception, Grad Fest, Career Fair, Transfer Fair, etc. I hope such space can be included in the Facilities Master Plan for the Palm Desert campus.

Currently, there is only one space on campus that can accommodate meetings of 20 or more people: the Cravens Multi-Purpose Room. But reserving the MPR for a meeting with 25-30 people means that larger events can’t use the room at that time. We need a few conference rooms that can handle perhaps 40-50 people in each as there are several committees and other groups with membership larger than our current set of conference rooms can accommodate.

With the primary dining facility on campus moving to the new Student Union in the southwest corner of campus, food options are far away from the new set of instructional buildings (A/B/C) that will be placed along the north Ring Road. Perhaps a secondary dining facility could be placed near these new buildings, or even incorporated into one of them. Perhaps there are opportunities for collaboration with the Student Kiosk on this, too. Campuses of our current size often have multiple dining facilities to serve students and employees.

Fire Academy (RWTC Campus) - To date this campus has not been identified or evaluated by the consultants. Faculty have discussed this campus location with consultants on numerous occasions. Annual PRUs list storage and classroom needs.

For more faculty input, an open forum to discuss the FMP could be scheduled in College Hour, 12:30pm-1:50pm on a Tuesday or a Thursday.

I know the original PS campus was to have Culinary Arts, but we are offering more culinary classes each term, right now, and the space in the Liberal Arts building is very cramped. I would hope a new Culinary Arts kitchen would  be considered for the main PD campus.

Please prioritize creating additional parking before eliminating any lots for new construction projects.  Parking is bad enough already on campus, esp in the afternoons.

I believe the Automotive program should remain on the main Palm Desert Campus.  The central location is more convenient for students who have other classes in their schedule they also need to attend.

I think that some thought should be given to possibly constructing of a planetarium in the Mecca-Thermal campus. This way we can utilize our new telescope and attract the community that area of the valley.

While attending yesterday’s Facilities Committee meeting (February 26, 2018), it occurred to me that preserving all of our legacy buildings creates serious impediments to creating a proper 21st Century campus. It seems that no matter how we try to organize the master plan, COD’s self-inflicted anti-demolition rule compromises optimal design.
Handcuffing our planners is like asking them to design a beach volleyball court over large, immovable beach rocks.
Obviously, we all want to keep the inner, inner core. But why not consider possible demolition of perimeter buildings sitting on land critical to successful design? Do we really need to keep every single one of these functionally obsolete, architecturally unremarkable, non-historic buildings? Furthermore, according to our planners, their low roofs give them limited potential for significant adaptive recuse (think Student Union).
We can spend years discussing which non-optimal plan works best, or we can consider some limited demolition (maybe one or two buildings), but only if warranted after careful evaluation of the alternatives.

We need large multi-purpose rooms that we can use other than the gym and CSSC/MPR. As grow our events are growing too. We also need more conference rooms that hold at least 20 people. Always struggling to find meeting spaces. We have to use classrooms but soon those won't be available either.
Need more parking spaces for staff and students.

Two things:
I am deeply concerned that the safety of our students and faculty are being ignored and no support is included for the second classroom in our remote ECE building on the Palm Desert campus.  We are located by an easy entrance, there is no other classroom nearby and we generally have classes every night of the week and very often have meetings int he evening.  We need additional classrooms there to run a second set of classes ---it's also holding back our capacity to SUSTAIN the significant growth we have had.
Secondly, it is unsafe to place a parking garage next to the McCarthy Child Development Center!  AND, it will destroy the view children have from the playground!

 
There appears to be a small but growing issue on campus due to the fact that there is only one charging station at C.O.D.  Speaking with other faculty and staff who are electric car or plug-in hybrid owners, the dearth of charging stations is becoming problematic, especially if one has to go to multiple campuses in a single day on college business. On some days, it is nearly impossible to get a spot at the charging station due to the growing number of EV owners. The addition of even one or two more charging stations (possibly at different locations) would be of great assistance in alleviating this issue and would help C.O.D.'s image as an environmentally friendly campus. Thank you for your consideration.   

There are too few charging stations for electric vehicles here at COD. Please add a substantial number of charging stations to each parking lot at each COD location. Thank You!
PARKING STRUCTURES:  I vote for Plan "A" (with skybridge) as Plan "B" (n/e/c Ring Road) increases automobile-pedestrian interaction.

All new and modified buildings on main campus and on the various satellite campuses (Indio, Palm Springs,Mecca-Thermal, DHS, etc) should have solar panels on all the rooftops.  Agreements with the utility companies can be worked out, don't let this be an excuse not to do this.

Please make sure all new and modified buildings (like the Hilb) on all campuses include the following: bike racks, trash and recycle bins, water filling station, phone charging stations, and electric vehicle charging stations where appropriate.

Take note there is no Sociology building on this campus.  SOC stands for Social Sciences and not Sociology.  You must mean the Social Sciences Building.

The FMP Exploration document (2/26/18) stated that the plan offered the opportunity to "Decrease pedestrian/ vehicular conflicts." A big change since that time is the launch of free SunLine Transit passes for students. Many more students are walking from the bus stops at Monterey/Fred Waring, across the McCallum property, and across the SW corner of the Ring Road than before. I've seen multiple instances of close calls between vehicles and pedestrians in this area. Perhaps the consultants could do additional work on this area of campus to mitigate the possibility of pedestrian/vehicle accidents.