Mar 19, 2024  
2014-2015 Academic Catalog 
    
2014-2015 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

The Facilities


Wartburg’s 118-acre campus provides a variety of classroom environments, living accommodations, and recreational opportunities for students. Much of the campus is connected by a system of second-story skyways and covered walkways. During cold or rainy weather, students can walk indoors from the Saemann Student Center to the Whitehouse Business Center, Luther Hall, Classroom Technology Center, Wartburg Chapel, Bachman Fine Arts Center, McElroy Communication Arts Center, Vogel Library, and Science Center.

The BACHMAN FINE ARTS CENTER, built in 1991, is home to the art and music departments and the Waldemar A. Schmidt Art Gallery. Art facilities in the building include two large studios with natural and controlled lighting, a ceramics studio and kiln room, two Macintosh computer labs, an advanced Macintosh lab, senior studio workspace, and space for matting and mounting work. The Waldemar A. Schmidt Art Gallery was renovated in 2007 and features the work of regional and national artists as well as the Annual Senior Exhibition.

The music facilities include rehearsal/recital halls for band, choir, and orchestra, individual and group practice rooms, faculty studios, a music therapy suite, and an electronic music laboratory. The ground floor was finished in 2001 to provide additional classrooms, practice rooms, and art studios.

LUTHER HALL houses most college administrative offices, including the President’s Office. The third-floor Humanities Center provides classrooms and faculty offices for English, modern languages, and history. The ground floor was renovated in 2000 and houses the college’s Institutional Advancement offices.

The McELROY COMMUNICATION ARTS CENTER, dedicated in 1992, includes a journalism laboratory equipped with computers and software for desktop publishing and graphics. The building also houses an FM radio station with stereo broadcasting equipment and a television production suite with camera, editing, and graphics systems. Offices for student publications also are in the facility.

OLD MAIN, the first building constructed on the Wartburg campus in 1880, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A 1986 renovation added classrooms and offices and made the building handicapped-accessible. Old Main houses the education and social work departments.

The RADA-ALEFF CLASSROOM TECHNOLOGY CENTER houses a computer laboratory, classrooms equipped with multimedia teaching stations, and the college’s Information Technology Services department. Faculty offices for the social sciences department are on the third floor.

The SCIENCE CENTER, completed in 2004, represents an expansion and renovation that doubled the size of Wartburg’s science facilities. The building is designed for hands-on learning and close interaction among students and faculty. Lecture rooms and laboratories, all with Internet access, provide state-of-the-art facilities for biology, chemistry, engineering science, physics, mathematics, and computer science classes. The complex houses four computer laboratories, a greenhouse, animal facilities, molecular biology and biochemistry suite with a cell culture room, cadaver room, indoor stream facility, student/faculty research areas, and a variety of informal student study areas. Equipment also includes three mobile computer labs, a scanning electron microscope, fluorescent microscopes, cardio/CP stress test system, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, and research electromagnet. The Platte Observatory, located near the outdoor soccer and football practice fields, provides facilities for introductory astronomy and upper-level astrophysics courses and research projects. It houses five Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, an 18-inch Newtonian reflector, and a 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope for research.

The SAEMANN STUDENT CENTER serves as the college’s gathering place and offers a wide variety of programs and services. A renovation and expansion project completed in 2004 doubled the size of the building, which houses the college dining facilities, a student organization hub with offices and support space for student organizations, and Student Life staff offices. The Student Center is also the home of the Bookstore, Information Center, Copy Center, Mailing Services, Lilly Reflection Room, McCoy Conference Rooms, Hagemann Castle Room, and Knights Ballroom, which can be divided into three separate areas for meetings and meals. McCaskey Lyceum provides space for theatre productions and other programs.

The VOGEL LIBRARY recognizes the contributions of Robert and Sally Vogel, Wartburg’s 14th president and first lady, who provided leadership to the college from 1980 to 1998. The library serves the campus community with a collection of more than 340,000 items including print and nonprint materials, electronic books, journals, newspapers, electronic publications, and a wide array of online databases. Many of these items are available via the library’s Web page or can be delivered directly to student e-mail accounts. ILLiad interlibrary loan service procures numerous book and journal requests from other libraries each year for students and faculty. Students also can borrow materials directly at Iowa’s other Open Access libraries, including the Waverly Public Library, by using their Wartburg ID cards. Special features of the library include the information laboratory, with more than 70 networked computers, wireless Internet access, a centralized and integrated collection with automated shelving, group and individual study and playback rooms, two information literacy classrooms, a curriculum library and classroom, the Wartburg College and Iowa Broadcasting Archives, the Pathways Center, the Center for Community Engagement, and the Konditorei coffee shop.

The WARTBURG CHAPEL, completed in 1994, serves as a center for campus worship and Wartburg’s Campus Ministry programs. A Campus Ministry Suite, housing the offices of the college pastors, and Campus Ministry, is accessed from the building’s skyway level. The Chapel Commons on the lower level includes a classroom and a multipurpose space for meetings and receptions.

The WARTBURG-WAVERLY SPORTS & WELLNESS CENTER opened in January 2008 to students, faculty, staff, and community members. It includes an indoor pool, aerobics and exercise rooms, arena with spectator seating, gymnasiums offering seven multipurpose courts, indoor competition 200-meter track, jogging track, climbing wall, wrestling rooms, racquetball courts, locker rooms, related facilities for athletic teams, Zesty Orange restaurant, and the Noah Campus Health Clinic.

OUTDOOR ATHLETIC FACILITIES include Hertel Field, a lighted baseball park; Lynes Field for softball; the Max Cross Country Course; and eight outdoor tennis courts. Walston-Hoover Stadium opened in 2002, providing seating, concession, and restroom facilities for 4,000 spectators. The stadium’s lighted FieldTurf playing field and all-weather track can be used for a variety of events. A nearby throwing venue for track and field and two competitive soccer fields are part of the outdoor athletic complex. In 2005, Walston-Hoover Stadium hosted the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Wartburg will host the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in November 2010.

The WHITEHOUSE BUSINESS CENTER houses offices and classrooms for business administration and economics. The Admissions Office is located on the second floor.

The LAGESCHULTE PRAIRIE is used for field studies and individual research. The six-acre prairie plot, located two miles northeast of Waverly, contains native grasses and prairie plants. It is open to the public.