The UGA College of Public Health promotes health in human populations through innovative research, exemplary education, and engaged service dedicated to preventing disease and injury within the state and around the world. We offer programs in biostatistics, disaster management, environmental health, epidemiology, gerontology, global health, health policy & management, health promotion & behavior, and toxicology.
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Email this pageThe University will begin renovations to three buildings on the Health Sciences Campus in the fall.
Renovations will include updating air conditioning and heating units, electrical and plumbing units, as well as creating programming rooms for use by the College of Public Health. Phase II of the renovations was approved on Jan. 11 at the Board of Regents meeting.
The project will cost more than $8 million, with $6 million going toward construction.
The renovations, which were funded by the Regents, will update Rhodes, Scott and Russell halls and are expected to take three years.
Rhodes Hall will house the administrative offices of the College of Public Health and Scott Hall will serve as a student center. The campus’ Russell Hall will contain classrooms, clinical teaching lab space and the anatomy lab, said Kathy Pharr, director of the Health Science Campus administration.
“The Board of Regents just selected the architectural design firm for these facilities at it’s meeting this week — Dunwoody/Beeland of Macon, Georgia,” she said. “The D/B architects will now work with our own campus architects and with the College of Public Health, medical partnership, student affairs and food services to understand the needs that must be served by these facilities.”
The move to a more unified location will allow for each of the college’s programs to be in a central place. The college is located in seven places, including Ramsey Student Center, Barrow Hall on South Campus and an off-campus location housing the Institute of Gerontology.
Since 2005, the College of Public Health has grown to 900 students and has expanded its curriculum and research opportunities, creating the need for a larger location.
“We have a really good group of faculty and students, but it would be nice if we were all in the same location,” said Eric Dahl, associate dean of the College of Public Health.
For Dean Phillip Williams, the move would allow the college to operate in one place.
“We anticipate a nice facility to provide us the means to be a good college,” he said, adding that the process of moving to each building on the Health Sciences Campus is based on the funds the Regents are able to provide to the project.
The epidemiology and biostatistics programs are already in Miller Hall on the campus, Williams said.
Pharr said as each renovation is complete, the academic units will move to their respective building, adding that there is a possibility the renovations could continue into a fourth year.
The Health Science Campus administration is in the process of studying Phase III of the renovations, she said.
Phase I and II renovations to the campus cost $19.5 million. The cost of the the third phase is not yet known.
In the coming weeks, the architects will gather student and faculty input for the building unit renovations.
Phase I of the renovations to the campus began in Summer 2011 and will be completed in Fall 2012. Phase II will be completed in Fall 2013. All phases are anticipated to be completed by 2015.
By RAISA HABERSHAM
Red and Black
