Carleton University has promised that any disruption will balanced by the “significant advantages for future students” of the Health Sciences Building currently under construction. However, the Department of Neuroscience has expressed that it is “very disappointed” with the current plans for the HSB, and that the HSB will be “grossly inadequate in terms of lab research space, student space, and vivarium capacity/animal testing capabilities” (p. 12). Further, it is my understanding that according to the current construction progress, the new Health Sciences building will not be completed until December 2017, several months behind schedule. There is no clear timeline or idea of exactly how and for how long the work of the department will be disrupted.

It is clear that there is only one solution available that could address these concerns and guarantee that the students and faculty in the Department of Neuroscience do not suffer undo hardship. Therefore, I ask that you immediately halt the process of eviction, and work out an arrangement whereby the Department will only have to move once, into the completed HSB.

This is the request from the head of the Department itself. Dr. Stead says that “the only fix we see is to try to delay start of construction in this building for an additional 9 months to allow us to move directly from this building into new building.”

This is also the position held by graduate students. On Friday, December 9th 2016, the Council of the Graduate Students’ Association voted in support of halting the eviction until a comprehensive plan for a single move is developed in consultation with faculty, staff, and students.

Everyone is aware that this may result in a loss of part of the funding for the ARISE project. This seems like a minor sacrifice, however, compared to the monumental sacrifice that the university is expecting of the students and faculty in Neuroscience.