A 15-member advisory committee made up of faculty members, staff and a student representative has been formed to help plan NDSU’s new STEM classroom and lab building.

During the 2013 session, the North Dakota Legislature approved more than $28 million in funding for the building, which will be entirely classroom and laboratory space used by all academic areas, with emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.

Starting in August, the advisory committee will provide input on the design of the building through a series of seven workshops. The committee is scheduled to meet through January 2014 to complete the construction documents, so the project can go to bid the following March.

The first workshop will cover size, type and number of classrooms and labs. “The focus of the first workshop will be on understanding teaching and student needs for all the spaces,” said Mike Ellingson, chair of the advisory committee and director of facilities management.

The goal is to start construction in May 2014 and complete the building by the time classes start in fall 2015.

Members of the STEM Building Advisory Committee

Kelly Bisek, president of Staff Senate
Mark Dahl, associate director of planning and construction services
Erik Diederich, Student Government vice president
Benton Duncan, associate professor, mathematics
Mike Ellingson, committee chair and director of facilities management
Alan Kallmeyer, professor and chair, mechanical engineering
Dinesh Katti, professor and interim chair, civil engineering
Andrew Mara, associate professor, English
Phillip McClean, professor, plant science
Carolyn Mead Harvey, physical science and engineering librarian
Donald Miller, professor and chair, pharmacy practice
Erika Offerdahl, assistant professor, chemistry and biochemistry
Marc Wallman, interim vice president, information technology
Anita Welch, assistant professor, education
Kristi Wold-McCormick, registrar