Airy classrooms available

Class meets in large tent on the library quad

Members of a music class sing together Monday morning under the tent north of the Enrollment Services Center. Photo by Christopher Gannon.

A dozen tents erected on lawns across campus can be used as a safe alternative to indoor activities -- including for classes, tutoring sessions, instructor's office hours and group projects. Student organizations are welcome to use the tents after 5 p.m. for their gatherings. And, as students are finding, a tent also is a convenient study space when a university group hasn't claimed it.

The tents project is a provost's office effort to help assure academic continuity during the pandemic and provide outdoor spaces this fall for instructors and students who feel safer working outdoors. Julie Kieffer, a member of the university response team, has coordinated tent installation with college and university library liaisons. She said the last of the tents -- one near the Gerdin Business Building and two on the west side of the Veterinary Medicine complex -- are going up this week.

Most tents are available on a simple first-come, first-served basis. Some of the colleges and units hosting tents have adopted a reservation process (see table below for details). For example, the Ivy College of Business will use the same reservation system it has for scheduling rooms in the Gerdin Building.

Hosts furnished their tents with either an instructor's table and chairs or a set of picnic tables. Users are asked to follow the scouting tradition and not leave any trash behind when they depart.

 

Inventory of campus tents for academic uses

Location

Reserve?

Reservation source

Host

Furniture

Southeast of Design

No*

 

Design

chairs

South of Armory

No*

 

Design

chairs

West of Marston (large)

Yes

Online form (select "west Marston lawn")

Engineering

picnic tables

West of Marston (small)

Yes

Online form (select "west Marston lawn")

Engineering

chairs

South of Library

No*

 

Library

picnic tables

East of Pearson

Yes1

Lori Sulzberger

Music and theatre

chairs

South of MacKay

Yes2

Student Services Center

Human Sciences

chairs

North of Curtiss

No*

 

Agriculture and Life Sciences

picnic tables

South of Agronomy

No*

 

Agriculture and Life Sciences

picnic tables

Southwest of Gerdin

Yes

Hannah Sanderman

Business

picnic tables

Northwest of Vet Med (2) near volleyball courts

No*

 

Veterinary Medicine

picnic tables

* Available on a first-come, first-served basis
1 M-W-F (10 a.m.-3 p.m.) reserved for music classes
2 M-F (8 a.m.-5 p.m.) reservations accepted; first come, first served evenings and weekends