Kyle Otting

“Now we have a place where our students show up, and they do their work and have gatherings and can study together, and we can interact with them while they’re studying or doing their homework,” John Villalpando said.

California Lutheran University’s Mathematics Department moved into the newly remodeled Ahmanson Science Center this fall. Professor of Mathematics John Villalpando said the idea to house math with other STEM majors was born nearly a decade ago. 

“The renovation of [Ahmanson Science Center] was probably seven years in the making,” Villalpando said. “It’s been quite a while, a lot of work and stuff, and I think we got a lot of the things that we were hoping for.”

The Math Department was previously located in the Spies-Bornemann Center for Education and Technology, where the Graduate School of Education resides, Villalpando said. The Physics and Computer Science Departments were also relocated to Ahmanson over the summer from the now-closed D Building.

“They thought that math would be a better fit with computer science and physics, more than we were with the film and education department,” Villalpando said. “[SBET] has primarily teaching, and that was a good location, but they thought there was more synergy between physics and computer science.”

Villalpando said the new location includes the Math Student Engagement Space, an “interactive workspace” for students to collaborate on projects, with faculty offices lining the exterior of the room.

Students can find the space on the first floor of Ahmanson, ASCI 111, covered in whiteboard walls, along with writeable windows and furniture. Whiteboard tables fill the center of the room, designed so that students can wheel them around for group-solving problems, Villalpando said.

“The tables, whiteboards—they can move [them] wherever they want,” Villalpando said. “So students can show up and do whatever math they want and share their math with people. That’s a huge difference from being way far away.”

The Math Department has started hosting “Weekly Wind-Down” every Friday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., described as “a casual community event designed to help students relax and connect at the end of the school week,” according to the Cal Lutheran website.

Villalpando said the response to the new location of the Math Department has been mostly positive from students.

“The biggest problem is that the door alarm goes off a lot because it has to fully close, and it doesn’t fully close, so the alarm goes off,” said Villalpando. “But that’s a very small inconvenience. Most seem to enjoy the space, the ones I interact with.” 

Senior Sanket Jadhav, former Math Club president, said the move has helped promote group work between students of different majors.

“There’s definitely a lot of mingling and intertwining going on within our communities,” Jadhav said. “We have so many classes in common, but we never had the opportunity to just actually connect with each other outside of the math classes we have. [The new location] definitely gave us the opportunity to be together and finally connect with people who have the same interests as us.” 

Jadhav said the convenience of math being located near computer science and physics has created new opportunities for students to work together not only for classes but also for extracurricular activities.

“Because the physics and math student populations are closer to each other now, we just have more opportunities to connect with each other,” Jadhav said. “If there’s a Physics Club meeting, we can also advertise it to the Math Department, and that’s also something the math majors can go to, and they do.” 

Sophomore Olivia Jackson Llerena, the current Math Club president, said the new space holds value in its ability to bring students with the same interests together.

“Most of the people that stay there and study are like math centered students, so it’s kind of a nice place for people to get some input and, like, collaborate,” Llerena said. “If someone is interested in something, someone else might come along and be, like, ‘Oh, what’s that?’ And then there’s a lot of collaboration with them.” 

Villalpando said the interactive study space was one of the biggest improvements for students, and he is excited to see how students will benefit from collaborating.

“Now we have a place where our students show up, and they do their work and have gatherings and can study together, and we can interact with them while they’re studying or doing their homework,” Villalpando said.