LMC classified senate members, faculty senate members and managers came together for the last college assembly of the year on May 2. The meeting was held from 3-5 p.m. on Zoom and in room L-109 at the Pittsburg campus.

During the first portion of the college assembly, representatives from Steinberg Hart, an architecture firm that’s done work all around the world, gave a presentation on their strategic plan to upgrade the facilities at the Brentwood and Pittsburg campuses.

Rob Barthelman, partner-in-charge at Steinberg Hart, delivered the majority of the slides as he discussed what the process would be in the development of new LMC facilities. 

The presentation pulled information from LMC’s 2020-2025 Education Plan to guide how Steinberg Hart’s ideas to improve facilities, keeping the college’s vision in mind.

A few of the general recommendations listed in the plan are improvements to childcare facilities, more places for students to gather and streamlined services for both campuses, all of which Steinberg Hart intends to meet.

“We are here for you at LMC and the culture of your students,” said Barthelman.

Benedetta Del Vecchio, the senior planner & engagement strategist at Steinberg Hart, also discussed the topic of on and off-campus student housing.

“We are interested in all of the possibilities,” said Del Vecchio.

To go about this multi-phase process of improving LMC’s facilities, Steinberg Hart wants to get together with all of the different departments and divisions at the college to figure out the best course of action.

To do that, Del Vecchio and Barthelman discussed several different methods to ensure all voices of the LMC community are heard. This includes meeting with staff and faculty to see how they are being supported, setting up workshops at various times and locations on campus and setting up events to gather feedback on LMC’s facilities.

Del Vecchio said that they will also be collecting data over the summer and fall based on how students and faculty are using the campus, which will give them the opportunity to “better understand the college.”

Interim president Dr. Pamela Ralston suggested meeting with clubs as another way to get students engaged in this process.

One final point of emphasis all of the Steinberg Hart representatives stressed was that this was a collaborative form of action that ultimately, holds the opinions of students at the forefront.

“If we all keep our aim at the students…we oftentimes find the center of the answer,” Barthelman said. “Let’s focus on students throughout our process.”