(Photo courtesy of RFS Engineering) “Coburn Hall is home to UMass Lowell’s education and psychology departments.”

Shishir Javali
Connector Staff

Coburn Hall is the oldest building on the UMass Lowell campus. It houses classrooms, study spaces and two departments: psychology and education. Students and faculty differ on how they like the building, but both agree that Coburn has a good atmosphere.   

“I like the sizing and spacing of it,” said Ryan Paterson, a senior in education. “I like how high the ceilings are in the hallways and the classrooms. Just really gives it a spacious feeling.” 

Faculty also found reasons why they thought it was a good place.  

“My favorite part of Coburn Hall is the education student room downstairs because I think it’s a great place to build community and for our students to work,” said Colleen Tapley, an assistant teaching professor in the school of education.  

Students, however, said that the building has shortcomings.  

“I dislike the basement because the classrooms don’t really have windows, and I wish that there were more windows,” said Holly Stellberger, a senior in education. “I think more study rooms would be nice because sometimes the study rooms in Coburn are all booked up.”  

However, there are benefits to the study spaces in Coburn Hall. 

“I think that they give a lot of privacy to students,” said Amanda Peduto, a senior in education. “I think that they provide a quiet opportunity for them to study and just sit down and all of that stuff.” 

But students said there were also some negatives attached to the building.  

“I wish there were more options in the vending machine,” Stellberger said. “I wish there were more vending machines, except for just in the basement.” 

Students also said they did not love its location.  

“I don’t like how Coburn is kind of like isolated on its own alone,” Paterson said. “You have to cross a busy street to access it. It’s just kind of on an island on its own.” 

Students also did not like the parking associated with Coburn’s location.  

“I don’t love how far the main parking lot is from Coburn Hall,” Peduto said. “It takes a long time to walk there, especially when the weather is cold. It makes it difficult, and I know there is Coburn lot, but I think there’s not enough space for students.”  

Overall, students say it is not a convenient building, especially since many campus amenities are far away. 

“Coburn Hall is definitely not conveniently located for anyone on campus, I think, unless you live at Riverview,” Paterson said. “It’s on its own, right next to a building that houses majors that is a small percentage of the UMass whole population.”  

The faculty is less concerned with the parking and points to the amenities for students.  

“It’s right near the library,” Tapley said. “There’s lots of food options close by, right across the street. It’s in a beautiful area. There’s those hammocks across the street that overlook the water if you go for a little walk.” 

Faculty also say they love its history because it has a historical component, as there is a mutual that people do not know much about, giving it a historical perspective.  

“I would say one thing that people may not know about is in the ballroom there; they uncovered that mural when they were renovating,” Tapley said. “So that mural is almost as old as the building.”  

In the end, Coburn Hall is an excellent building for most aspects of college life.  

“I like it because it’s pretty peaceful and just a space where you can kind of get work done,” Stellberger said.