By Shireen Ghorbani, associate director of communications for Facilities Management

This summer, a major transformation will take place for Orson Spencer Hall. As the general education building in the heart of campus, OSH has served students since it opened in 1957.

As plans for the future of OSH develop, the design team is very interested in your input. An initial survey opened the week of Oct. 26, and nearly 2,000 students, faculty and staff participated in that opportunity. Now the team is looking for your help in prioritizing the feedback received in the first survey. During Nov. 16-22, visit OSHstudy.com to participate.

In the initial survey, participants highlighted the importance of a comfortable and modernized space. Light, open spaces where people are able to gather and interact were key ideas evident in the survey comments. Participants told us comfortable seating, quiet places to work and study and access to food were all important to making OSH an inviting space.

Parallel to the survey efforts, a steering committee has been working on plans for the development since the start of the year. The group is comprised of individuals representing the diverse programs that are housed in or teach in OSH. ASUU leadership also provides students with a voice at the table.

As the design team from MHTN Architects moves past the information gathering phase to the building design process, there will be other opportunities to help shape the development of the new OSH.

The design team will host an open house on Dec. 8 in OSH 107, 2-5:50 p.m. The group will have representatives available to share ideas and continue the conversation with stakeholders and others invested in shaping the future of the space.

Over the next weeks, chalkboard block Us in OSH will feature new questions each week. Ideas collected from those boards will be reported to the design team.

Construction will begin in May 2016.