n paper, the College of Family and Consumer Sciences looks great.

With 1,500 students registered as FACS majors in fall 2003, the college has the fourth largest undergraduate enrollment at the University of Georgia.

Research and outreach faculty currently are managing nearly $60 million in external funding. If that figure is annualized it means that for every state dollar spent on faculty salaries for research, the faculty have generated $9.36. Likewise, for every dollar spent on faculty salaries for outreach, the faculty have generated $11.60.

But achievements create challenges, and in the case of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, the challenge is space.

"We don t have enough," says Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research Jan Hathcote. Among her other duties, Hathcote oversees building maintenance and works with department heads and Dean Sharon Y. Nickols in trying to carve out additional space for a variety of projects, classrooms and personnel.

In 1932, when Dawson Hall first opened, it housed all of the faculty and staff of what was then the Division of Home Economics, plus the professionals who had appointments with the Cooperative Extension Service.

Today, Dawson and Spiers, which opened in 1971 primarily as laboratory space, can t even house the college s faculty. Instead, faculty can be found in office parks located on the far western side of Clarke County, closer to Georgia Square Mall than to Dawson Hall, on the far eastern side of the county, and in several locations in between.

"We recognize that our growth is a good thing," Nickols says. "But as we try to meet student and faculty needs, we re often stymied by the lack of space."

For example, the lack of space is affecting the college s teaching.

"Many classes are larger," according to Hathcote. "While some faculty are enjoying teaching in UGA s new Student Learning Center, certain majors require specialized studios and laboratories."

Take the furnishings and interiors major, for example.

"An ideal set-up would be for each studio class to have its own studio," she says. "Right now, we have one studio classroom with 25 drafting stations. The 150 students in that major share that space at various times during the week."

In the case of the college s largest class - FACS 2000, a required survey course exploring the roots of family and consumer sciences - the 385 students enrolled are gathering in the 400-seat auditorium in the School of Forest Resources, two blocks away from Dawson.

"It s not the inconvenience to faculty that concerns me when we have classes outside of Dawson," Nickols says. "It s the loss of faculty and student interaction. With the space crunch across campus, students and faculty have to clear out to make way for the next professor using the room. The chance to continue a discussion in the professor s office may never happen."

Nickols also is concerned that students aren t able to connect to the college as a whole if they don t have classes in Dawson.

"They don t get to see the bulletin boards advertising upcoming events and opportunities - the sign-ups for FACS Ambassadors or the study abroad in London, and notices to apply for scholarships." Nickols says. "Part of identifying with the college and developing as a family and consumer sciences professional is established by spending time here, planning events for student organizations, talking with classmates, studying, or stopping by a professor s office."

aculty Interaction Essential

But interaction with faculty isn t important just for students. It s also important for the research and public service work of the faculty.

For another college, departmental isolation might be a minor factor, but not for the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

"We are an interdisciplinary, integrated and holistic field," according to Nickols. "Our theoretical and historical foundation is that we pull together people to work on pressing human issues. That goal isn t easily fostered when you have people in 11 different buildings."

Certainly the college s success in receiving external funding demonstrates that plenty of research and outreach projects are under way, but Nickols sees many opportunities that are missed due to limited faculty interaction.

"When you look at issues like persistent poverty or childhood obesity or affordable housing, there are any number of research and outreach projects that could be developed combining the expertise of faculty members in different departments," Nickols says. "But developing creative ideas and writing grants that combine the research interests and outreach expertise of faculty in diverse areas requires frequent interaction."

The classroom crunch leads to more hallway conferences between professors and students.

Even within departments interactions among faculty can be a challenge. In the case of the Housing and Consumer Economics Department and Human Development and Family Science Department, faculty members are housed in former "home management" houses plus Dawson Hall and Hoke Smith Annex. In addition, CFD faculty who are part of the Institute on Human Development and Disability are housed three miles and a lot of traffic-away in the River s Crossing building on College Station Road. Foods and Nutrition faculty are in the Boyd Graduate Studies Building. And, on the west side of town, faculty in the Developmental Therapy and Teaching Program rent space in an office park.

"Our faculty members have programs that have terrific external funding, which has allowed them to hire staff and add graduate students and conduct a broad range of research programs," Nickols says. "But the downside is they had to move off campus to house their programs. That means our undergraduates - and even faculty - don t get to interact with them and gain an in-depth understanding of their research."

In some cases, faculty have decided to forego opportunities to move out of Dawson for more space, choosing instead to juggle people and space and time.

"I love being in Dawson," says Dr. Mary Ann Johnson, a Foods and Nutrition professor who oversees more than $1 million in external funding for research and outreach focusing on nutrition and older adults and serves as graduate coordinator for the department. "There s a synergy that takes place within these walls that I want to be a part of. I want to see my colleagues and students and interact with them."

Cover story continued on page 2 . . .