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Welch Hall has one of the largest concentrations of general purpose classrooms on campus, including six large auditoriums seating a total of 1,700 students.  Most of the auditoriums are located in the 1978 wing of the building and as of 2003 still had the original carpet and seating.  Between 2003 and 2006, student fee funded renovations replaced carpet and seating in many of the classrooms.

An important goal in replacing the seating in auditoriums is to meet the diverse needs of our students.  Ten percent of all new seating has left-handed writing surfaces.  Open space convenient to the doors is reserved for wheelchairs.  And, several of the aisle seats have flip-up arms that allow easier access.  For the convenience of all students, larger writing surfaces are provided whenever possible.


WEL 2.122 Renovation  (August 2006)

WEL 2.122, also known as the Welch Convocation Center, is the only auditorium located in the original 1929 wing of Welch.  This room is a general purpose classroom in the mornings and is used by Chemistry & Biochemistry in the afternoons.  Prior to the renovation, the room had a seating capacity of about 120:  there were 78 widely-spaced fixed seats and 40-50 movable desks in the back of the room.  New carpet and 231 theater style seats with flip-up writing surfaces were installed.  This almost doubling of the seating capacity created the 14th largest general purpose classroom at the university.



WEL 1.308 Renovation  (August 2005)

The second largest auditorium in the College of Natural Sciences seats 333.  The original brown carpet and the orange and purple seating were replaced, using a new charcoal and beige color scheme.



WEL 2.224 Renovation  (January 2005)

The largest auditorium in the College of Natural Sciences seats 488 and is the venue for introductory chemistry courses during the day and various special events in the evening.  The carpet was replaced and new seating with larger writing surfaces was installed.