By Armando Estrada-Rodriguez
Reporter
Transfer students and incoming freshmen might be confused if they are trying to locate the new Humanities Office Building (HOB) on the campus directory, as it is not yet listed on the map.
In fact, various new facilities are not yet mapped on CSU Bakersfield’s cartogram.
Aside from HOB, other places not listed on the ground plan are the engineering building, and the new parking lot located by the HOB. Panda Express, Starbucks, and Which Wich are also missing on the current layout.
Director of Facilities Operations and Facilities Management, Paula E. Bray, provided information regarding when students will see an updated map.
“Normally, the updates on the map are done in the summer time so by the fall all the buildings are updated. One of the goals is to get that done over the summer,” said Bray.
When asked why the map could not be modified sooner, Bray said “The type of work that we do requires that we provide information to the Bakersfield Chancellor for certain things, including notifying the office of campus updates such as the directory.”
Additionally, Bray said “it’s bureaucratic, but what’s good is that we have so many deadlines it keeps us on pace with our busy schedule to have checkpoints.”
There are no plans to update the campus map, as there are more changes happening to the CSUB campus: the proposed moving of the tennis court, the possibility of a new aquatics center, and other buildings that are in planning. Students can expect an update next fall.
The student body has had mixed reactions about the missing buildings on the campus map.
Senior Michael Davalos said, “I had no idea where to go to class,” when he was first told to report to the HOB this semester.
Senior Erica Pena was also confused when locating HOB. “You hear there’s a new building and you go ‘where is that?’ They don’t really tell you how to find it so I had to go through a process of elimination with the buildings until I found it,” said Pena.
While seasoned students have had trouble finding the HOB, freshman and transfer students face trying to find these uncharted locations while being unfamiliar with the campus as a whole.
Students who wish to find the HOB can find it located in the northwest corner of campus. It is the large glass and brick building just behind the music building.
Some students like Juan Lemuz, a junior biotechnology major, use other ways to navigate the campus.
“I have my physics class in the new building,” said Lemuz. “I asked around to find the location of the building. I didn’t even use the maps. I just asked the librarian and some people in the cafe.”
Until the campus map is updated, students are advised to ask campus officials for directions.
