Despite a 10-year construction boom, Penn State professors say the university's teaching and laboratory spaces are outdated and in small supply.

"The university ranks 8th or 9th in comparison to other Big Ten schools in amount of space available to us," David Breon, manager of capital and space planning, said. "I think we're going to be behind for a long period of time."

Many credit insufficient state aid to the building shortage, as Penn State's state appropriation has not advanced in proportion to its enrollment since the 1970s. However, Penn State researchers may have a new ally in the state government if Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed "Jonas Salk Legacy Fund" is confirmed by lawmakers.

"It's for research and development facilities and renovation," said Rebecca Bagley, deputy secretary for the state's technology investment office. "We really feel like this will accelerate our position in the sciences and biosciences."

According to space surveys conducted by the university, Penn State had 10.98 square feet of instructional labs and 30.61 square feet of research labs per student in 2005, accounting for 16 percent of the university's total space. Penn State was 18 percent behind the rest of the Big Ten in combined lab space in 2004, according to the surveys.

Richard Cyr, assistant head for undergraduate affairs in the biology department, said badly designed labs and cramped facilities are hurting the university's science programs.

"We're not doing as good a job in freshman biology as some high schools are," he said. "We have buildings that were put up in the 1930s ... they are grossly inadequate for research today."

The average age of buildings on campus is 35 years, Office of Physical Plant (OPP) spokesman Paul Ruskin said. He said the university has recently shifted to favoring renovation over new construction, pointing to the renovation of North Freer.

Cyr, however, contends that new lab construction is essential to the college's research.

"There are other research universities who have invested a substantial amount of money in new teaching labs," he said. "I think we can do more in that area."

Rendell has said the Jonas Salk Legacy Fund is the answer. The fund, first unveiled in 2006, would use proceeds from tobacco settlements to provide grants to universities and medical centers for "brick and mortar" facility expansions.

Penn State President Graham Spanier officially announced the university's support of the Jonas Salk Legacy Fund at last month's appropriation hearing in Harrisburg, saying that the university would welcome the funding.

"We have strong programs in the material sciences and biotechnology," he said. "These kinds of research are very facilities-intensive."

Cyr said he'd be "falling over [himself] to get at them," if the Jonas Salk Legacy Fund became available.

However, the fund may not be as great a benefit to undergraduates at Penn State as it seems. Breon said should the university receive a Salk grant, it plans to spend it on either the new Children's Hospital at the Hershey Medical Center or the proposed Life Sciences/Material Sciences II Building, neither of which would benefit undergraduate education.

"Truthfully, it wouldn't affect [teaching] at all," he said. "It's all research space."

Deborah Blythe, OPP facilities resource manager, maintains that Penn State's space crunch, while present in some areas, is manageable.

"I'd say we're very efficient," she said. "We don't have a lot of excess space, [but] in terms of our classroom space, we're in a much better situation than 15 years ago."

Blythe made the analogy of research being a fish in water, saying that if you put the fish in an aquarium, it will grow to a "certain length."

"[And] if you take that fish and put it in a pond, it can grow pretty big," she said. "You could look at research the same way."

However, if Penn State research wants to expand, it's going to need a plan in enlarging its pond, Breon said.

"Every college would like to have more space for their particular needs," he said. "It takes a lot of comprehensive negotiating to deliver a plan that is serving the university needs best."