Campus Facilities
The campus consists of 84 acres of grassland and woods extending on both slopes of the knoll from which the College takes its name. Thanks to the foresight of Dr. William F. Curtis, who was president of the College when it moved to its present site in 1915, the grounds are adorned with mature and beautiful examples of more than 140 species of trees from all over the world. Cedar Crest’s tree collection is officially designated the William F. Curtis Arboretum and is registered with the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.
Large outdoor sculptures by several notable artists are located on campus.
Allen House: The former president’s home is now the college’s center for global engagement and diversity, which includes the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, the Office of Global Initiatives and International Programs, and international student services.
Alumnae Hall and Lees Memorial Chapel (ALH): Alumnae Hall contains classrooms, an auditorium, a small 75 seat theatre, faculty offices, a video studio and editing lab (used in the Communication Department) and Lees Memorial Chapel. A notable feature of the Chapel is the group of stained glass windows portraying ten women who made lasting impressions upon civilization. The art department has studios and faculty offices in Alumnae Hall, including a new state-of-the-art art therapy studio
Art Galleries: Art at Cedar Crest is an integral part of daily life. The gallery system allows the opportunity to showcase a wide variety of exhibitions at locations throughout the campus. Our primary exhibition space is the Lachaise Gallery located in the Miller Family Building. In addition to this exhibition space we have the Capstone Gallery in Alumnae Hall which showcases student work and student curated exhibitions. The campus, a nationally registered arboretum, is a site for outdoor sculpture, as well as historically significant pieces on permanent loan. The activities of the galleries are intimately woven into the programming of the art department and reach throughout the campus community and beyond.
The gallery system at Cedar Crest College is an educational arm of the art department and a public agent for the college. The mission of the campus galleries is to present exhibitions that introduce our community to innovative ideas and timely concepts about the practice of making art .Our exhibition programming leans toward contemporary art that directly relates to the art major curriculum. At the heart of the liberal arts, the gallery system becomes a vehicle for inspiring dialogue across academic disciplines.
Blaney Hall (BHA): The central structure on the campus Blaney Hall, re-named in honor of President Dorothy Gulbenkian Blaney in May 2006, houses administrative offices of the president, provost, chief financial officer, institutional advancement, admissions, finance, human resources, marketing & communications, the School of Adult and Graduate Education, financial aid, alumnae affairs, and student accounts. Four multimedia classrooms and a computer lab also are located in this building.
Butz Hall: Butz Hall contains space for resident students, the center for diversity and inclusion, the student newspaper The Crestiad, the forensic speech team, and the college radio station (CCC Radio).
Campus Technology: The campus technology environment includes 12 computer labs and 37 classrooms. Internet access, e-mail and shared resources (such as application software and laser printers) are available to students through their campus network accounts. Scanners are located in several computer labs. Wireless internet access is available throughout the campus, including the residence halls. Computer classrooms and labs are found in academic departments and the residence halls. The Allen Center for Nutrition, located in the Miller Family Building, has a classroom/lab with 24 stations. The psychology labs are located in Curtis Hall. The Hamilton Boulevard Building hosts one 10-station computer lab and 5 technology-equipped classrooms. Wireless internet service is available throughout the entire building. A Mac lab in the Dorothy Rider Pool Science Center serves students in the biological sciences. Funded by a grant from the Keck Foundation, a lab for computational biology and bioinformatics resides in the Miller Family Building. A 20-station Convergence Lab in the Cressman Library is available to all Communications and Art majors. Designated computer labs are staffed by trained student consultants, who gain valuable work experience, while working alongside Information Technology staff to provide computer support for the campus community. Online services include web-based email, MyCedarCrest (my.cedarcrest.edu), as well as online and web-enhanced courses.
Cable Communications: The College maintains a text-based College information channel, which is accessible from every cabled television on campus. The audio portion of the channel includes the student-run radio station. Additional channels are available for in-house programming. These are used for centralized audio/visual distribution (e.g., of taped lectures and events), and are linked to the College’s distance learning facility. A campus satellite dish receives a broad range of educational transmissions (both national and international) and can be received from any cable television on campus.
College Bookstore: The College Bookstore is located on Level I of the Tompkins College Center. It offers an excellent selection of imprinted clothing and gifts, textbooks and a wide variety of selected reading material with the capability of special ordering, as well as art and school supplies, gifts, snacks and sundries.
Cressman Library: Rising in three levels from the Cedar Crest hillside, the Cressman Library houses collections and services supporting the College’s commitment to a liberal arts education. The library is equipped for wireless Internet access and all levels provide laptop electrical support. An outstanding feature of the building is the view from the reading area. The library terrace is accessible from steps on the east side of the building.
The main level houses the Student Success Center and includes the staff and resources of Academic Services, the reference and journal collections, microforms, and 19 workstations. From these workstations, students have access to the online catalog, the Internet and full-text resources. The Communication Department’s Media Convergence Laboratory with 20 iMac computers is also on this level.
The main level also houses both the Information Services Help Desk and the Office of Information Technology Student Help Desk. The Audio-visual Services office, the media collection, and the AV listening area are also located on this level. The media collection includes DVDs, laser discs, videos, audio tapes and music CDs that can be circulated or played in the audiovisual listening area. The WorldShare library Management System supports the on-line catalog, circulation and acquisition services as well as a discovery interface across all material types. The Library staff offices are on the main level as is the Lending Services desk, enabling students to have immediate access to assistance.
The intermediate level houses the majority of the book collection, study carrels and tables, as well as the curriculum library, which contains a collection of juvenile fiction, non-fiction and K-12 textbooks.
The terrace level houses the rest of the book collection, study carrels and tables, older print journals and the record and score/libretto collections. The majority of Information Technology staff offices are located here. The Marjorie Wright Miller Poet’s Corner houses the library’s collection of poetry by American women. The Poetry Corner is equipped with a workstation connected to a large screen video display that allows the space to be used as a collaborative workspace for group projects and study.
The library webpage is accessible at http: //library.cedarcrest.edu. Registered students have off-campus access to indexes, abstracts and full-text resources through a proxy-server. Through the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges, the Library is affiliated with the libraries of DeSales and Lehigh Universities and Lafayette, Muhlenberg and Moravian colleges. A weekday delivery service makes it possible for our students to have access to over two million volumes in the combined collections of these institutions.
Curtis Hall (CUR):
Faculty offices for management, information systems, mathematics, economics, education, psychology and social sciences (anthropology, criminal justice, religious studies, and social work) are located in Curtis Hall. Psychology labs on the ground floor include the Human Social Cognition and Behavior Lab (HSCB Lab), Psychophysiology Laboratory, and Animal Learning and Behavior Laboratory. The Registrar’s Office, the Roland and Doris Sigal Center for Business and Technology, the Office of Global Initiatives, and Information Technology are also located in Curtis Hall. The second floor contains the Alumnae Museum and classrooms. The third floor houses Honor students and two multimedia classrooms. Curtis also houses the health and counseling services center and the specially equipped Inez Cantrell Donley Education Demonstration Classroom on the ground level.
The Office of Information Technology staff offices are located on the bottom level of Curtis Hall and the Technology Employee Help Desk is located in Curtis 114.
Donald P. Miller Family Building (MIL): The College’s Miller Family Building for art, science and peace, includes a genetic engineering lab, physics lab, physics/crime scene reconstruction lab, chemical instrumentation lab, bioinformatics, geographical information systems (GIS), and computational biology computer lab, The Allen Center for Nutrition, a state-of-the-art food laboratory and the Lachaise Gallery.
Dorothy Rider Pool Science Center (SCI): The Pool Science Center is a modern classroom and laboratory building arranged around a central landscaped court. It houses instructional and research facilities for biological sciences, chemistry and physics, with laboratories for course-related and independent work in all fields. The biological sciences department includes fully-equipped genetic engineering laboratories, cichlid fish brain and behavior room, environmental conservation laboratory, neuroscience laboratory, anatomy and physiology laboratory, and greenhouse. It has instruments for electrophoresis, electrophysiology, tissue culture, high-speed and ultra centrifugation, nanodrop and standard spectrophotometers, phase, fluorescence, and confocal microscopy. Additional equipment includes a DNA sequencer and equipment for standard and real time PCR. The chemical and physical sciences department contains most modern instrumentation methods, including gas and liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry, scanning electron and infrared microscopy, UV-visible, FT-infrared, Near-infrared, atomic absorption and fluorescence spectrophotometry, equipment for conducting polymerase chain reaction and genetic typing analyses, and computer techniques.
Hamilton Boulevard Building (HBB): Acquired in 2007, this former professional building is now a state-of-the art, high-tech learning center that benefits the entire campus community and serves as the home to the College’s health sciences and nursing programs. At 33,000 square feet it incorporates eco-friendly technology and includes six state-of-the-art classrooms, an exercise physiology lab, several nursing labs that simulate various health care environments, a seminar room, a computer lab, and two high-fidelity patient simulation rooms.
Harold and Miriam Oberkotter Center for Health and Wellness (OBC): The Harold and Miriam Oberkotter Center for Health and Wellness (OBC) features a forensic science/microbiology lab, a biochemistry lab, a 110-seat state-of-the-art multi-media classroom, faculty offices, and a student lounge.
Hartzel Hall (HHL): Hartzel Hall contains faculty offices for the Department of Communication, and for the Department of History, Literature, and Languages (history, english, spanish, political science, philosophy, writing). It also contains a language laboratory, the honors program center, a multimedia room, a ceramics studio, and a paper-making studio.
Lees Hall (LEE): Seating capacity for athletic activities is more than 300; for other events, 750. Other facilities in Lees Hall include a fitness center, athletic training room and offices for the athletic department staff. Fitness Center hours of operation are 5:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m.
Moore Hall: This residence hall provides housing to students.
Playing Fields: Large areas of the campus have been arranged to provide for various outdoor sports. Tennis, basketball and volleyball courts are usable most of the year. Regulation fields for field hockey, lacrosse, soccer and softball are located behind Lees Hall. The cross country course extends throughout the campus and adjacent parks.
President’s Home: The president’s home faces the campus on College Drive across from Moore Hall.
Rodale Aquatic Center for Civic Health: The Rodale Aquatic Center offers swimming, fitness and wellness classes to the College and adds a major health resource to the Lehigh Valley community. The facility includes a 25’ x 40’ warm-water exercise pool, a 25-yard x 8-lane fitness/competitive pool, locker rooms, meeting spaces, and parking areas designed for accessibility.
Steinbright Hall: The Dance Studio (STE) includes sprung dance floors, extensive barres, two studios equipped with full studio-length mirrored walls, faculty offices and changing facilities. Resident students are also housed in Steinbright Hall.
Tompkins College Center (TCC): The Tompkins College Center’s floor-to-ceiling windows frame the magnificent park-like views of the Cedar Crest campus. This building is a popular place for many campus activities and provides facilities for student organizations, meetings, lectures, cultural events, receptions, movies, banquets and social gatherings. It houses dining services, as well as the bookstore, Career Services, and Samuels Theatre. It also contains the office of the director of student union and engagement. An activities lounge with electronic games, a pool table, wide-screen TV and kitchen facilities are on the ground floor. Performing arts offices, including scene and costume shops, also are located in the Center.
