The MTU Psychology and Human Factors department looks to move out of the Meese building and into the third and fourth floors of the Minerals and Materials Engineering Building this semester.
Kelly Steelman, the department chair of MTU’s psychology and human factors department, was interviewed for details about the move.
The psych department plans to completely renovate the third and fourth floors of the M&M, with the primary focus being to make a “student centered” space. Steelman is hopeful that “students will feel like they have a space of their own” with the new space. The third floor will be the main space of the psych department, and the fourth floor will consist of labs and grad student offices.
The project has a budget of $1.2 million and is hoped to be finished by the end of this 2025 spring semester. Students should expect to see work on the renovation getting underway sometime in these coming weeks.
Steelman said that there were a number of driving factors that contributed to the move. One of these factors is the psychology department wanting to have a space on MTU’s main campus in order to be more accessible to undergrad students. Moving out of the Meese building is a topic that has been talked about for years within the psychology department. But now is the first time that the idea can be put into action.
The move is spurred on by what Steelman calls the beginning of a “domino effect” of people and departments moving around campus, caused by the construction and renovation of new buildings and spaces around campus.
As the MTU Biomed department moved into the new H-Stem building, their old space on the third and fourth floors of the M&M were left open, and the psychology department was the one who got the space. Public safety will also be moving into the Meese building at this same time.
When asked what the feelings of the department were about the move, Steelman answered with “anxious but excited.” There is a lot that is changing with this move and some details still reside in uncertainty. But the department is excited to be a part of the “newness” that is sweeping across campus.
For more information about the move, contact Kelly Steelman at steelman@mtu.edu
