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History of SVSU: 1989-2013
The 90,000-square-foot building features the largest aqua-thermal heating and cooling system in Michigan. It contains solar-energy collectors capable of producing 15 kilowatts of electricity. These inclusions make the Health & Human Services Building an example of cutting-edge energy technology, enough so that the university received a LEED silver rating from the United States Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for this building as well. “This new facility will provide students the highest quality education and preparation,” said K. P. Karunakaran, chair of the SVSU Board of Control, at the building’s dedication. “We are grateful to our regional legislators for their support of this most important project.”55 K. P. Karunakaran
More and More a Residential Campus – Functional and Beautiful
The university board and Gilbertson determined that SVSU had reached its optimum size for the foreseeable future, and by 2013 had transitioned toward better accommodating the students and staff on an increasingly residential campus. Part of this entailed maintaining the beauty of the campus and making it a more livable space. Campus Facilities staff work year round in their commitment to, in the department’s own words, “create and maintain an exceptional environment to sustain SVSU’s competitive advantage.” For example, work on the walking trail around campus began in autumn 2001 with a grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation. The plan for the project called for the path to circle the campus, allowing space for bicyclists, walkers and joggers.56 A beautiful addition to the campus, the Robert and Amy Yien International Garden, was dedicated June 2, 2008. Designers modeled the 14,000-square-foot garden on a traditional Chinese garden, and it features two waterfalls, a limestone walkway and nearly 40 kinds of plants.57 In 2010, Hocquard received $40,000 from the Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network to aid in creating a Native Planting Preserve north of the University Health Center to educate and raise awareness in the community about native plants. The university also maintains wetlands adjacent to Founders Hall.58 The administration indicated additional improvements to on-campus housing would continue.59 The university in 2009 installed security cameras and improved the campus emergency warning system. Part of such measures entailed the creation of a system through which students and staff could receive emergency notices via email and text message. The university also integrated various energy conservation measures and installed power generators for backup in case of electrical outages. At the start of the 2009 academic year, administrators and Covenant HealthCare opened the University Health Center at the northeast intersection of Bay Road and Pierce Road. The $2.6 million facility resulted from a partnership with the hospital and provides urgent care, and laboratory testing for the campus community and others.60 An explosion in the number of people using the Ryder Center also prompted the Board of Control in 2010 to authorize expansion of recreation facilities. Cardinal Fitness programs had grown rapidly from a little more than 100 student users during the 2007-2008 academic year to 900 two years later. During that same time, participation in intramural sports had grown 58 percent. “We want our students to have access to programs and facilities that allow the opportunity for a well-rounded student life,” Merry Jo Brandimore, vice president
