The Ideal Graduate
Creating Graduates with Professional Preparedness
Facilities Management partners with university faculty to give real-world experience to students in multiple disciplines, effectively turning the entire campus into a living, learning lab.
The Power of Simulation
OSU has several state-of-the-art utility production facilities on campus that are
routinely used for student tours and real-world learning labs. Engineering students
can take tours of the OSU Central Plant and see firsthand examples of the concepts
they learn about in their classes: thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, pumps, fans, equipment
controls, electrical infrastructure, and much more.
The building was designed with students in mind: a 60-person classroom in the basement
and the observation room on the first floor with its floor-to-ceiling windows allows
guests to watch the industrial chillers and boilers in operation.
In-Depth Training
Civil and environmental engineering students witness water flow and chemical treatment
at Energy Services’ Water Treatment Plant that serves domestic water to the entire
campus. Fire Protection students use several Energy Services facilities and processes
to perform process hazard analysis and provide reports on their findings.
From Fountains to Showers
Energy Services is essentially the university’s utility company, handling infrastructure,
upkeep, improvements and distribution of electricity and the campus’ water supply,
including running OSU’s own water treatment plant and providing steam, chilled water,
hot water, and potable water for campus facilities heating and cooling.
Heating, Cooling, and More
Working together, The Central Plant and West Chilled Water Plant can provide cooling
to campus equivalent to serving 7,000 homes. The Central Plant can also provide heating
equivalent to 5,000 homes. On top of these, the Water Treatment Plant can produce
10 million gallons per day of treated water to the Stillwater campus.
28Thousand Tons
of cooling to campus
180Thousand Pounds per Hour
steam heating to campus
OSU Students
A Driving Force
Students have been a driving force behind some of OSU’s special distinctions and landmarks
including the Bee Campus USA designation and becoming a Monarch Waystation. A pocket
prairie in the shape of a butterfly was installed at the corner of McElroy and Western
roads with the help of students from multiple disciplines, and funded by a student
who won a grant for the project.
Insect Insight
OSU has achieved national recognition as a Bee Campus, an accredited arboretum and,
because of its significant native plant corridors, was certified as a Monarch Waystation,
through a program run by the nonprofit Monarch Watch.
In-House Construction and Landscape Services worked with students on the creation
of an “insect hotel.” The hotel was constructed with wood sourced from an ice-damaged
tree on the Stillwater campus. Gabby Barber, intern for the Office of Sustainability,
designed the structure, and landscaping intern Brendan Perkins did the final drawings
for construction.
Low Cost, High Impact
Through a $25,000 project, Landscape Services and Construction and Contract Services turned an overgrown and unusable outdoor space into a unique teaching area by improving the overall appearance and usability of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Toxic Garden.
Toxic Garden Renovation
