Nov 04, 2024  
2024-25 Undergraduate/Graduate Catalog 
    
2024-25 Undergraduate/Graduate 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, opened in 1991, houses the departments of music and art.  The Bachman Fine Arts Center offers excellent equipment and facilities for rehearsal and practice, 50 grand and upright pianos, 22 practice rooms and 16 music studios.  The building also houses a music therapy facility that includes an observation laboratory.   The Presser Music Technology Classroom is equipped with computer equipment, MIDI keyboards, and software for composition, music theory, and ear training.   Art facilities include a gallery, graphic design, computer stations, classrooms and studios.

Wartburg performance spaces can accommodate audiences of 150 in Orchestra Hall, 300 in McCaskey Lyceum, 650 in Wartburg Chapel, and 1200 in Neumann Auditorium.  Organ students have access to five pipe organs on campus.

LUTHER HALL, built in 1925, houses classrooms and administrative offices, including the President’s Office and Neumann Auditorium.   The Alumni and Parent Relations Office, Development Office, and Marketing and Communication Office is located on the lower level.   The Academic Affairs, Human Resources, Business and Registrar offices are located on the second floor.   The Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies Department and History Department are located on the third floor.

The McELROY COMMUNICATION ARTS CENTER opened in 1992 and houses a student-run television studio and Wartburg’s FM radio station 89.9 KWAR with digital stereo broadcasting equipment and television production suites with camera, editing and graphics systems.  Students use advanced digital editing production equipment.   Offices for student publications also are located in the facility.   The center includes facilities for journalism and communication programs.  

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 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 Wartburg Store, 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 Academic Resource Center, 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. In spring 2021, the Meyer Strength and Conditioning Annex opened featuring 17 weight platforms and expanded areas for stength and conditioning activities, allowing multiple teams to utilize the space at the same time. In summer 2021, the Wuertz Health and Human Performance Center, which houses the college’s Department of Health & Human Performance, was completed.

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 hosted 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.