New England Science Boot Camp 2018

Directions

Brandeis University is located at

415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453. 

Campus is arranged around the Loop Road, which is one-way at the top half.  To drive to Mandel you must turn right onto Loop Road into campus.
The official campus directions are on this website: http://www.brandeis.edu/about/visiting/directions.html

That page has links to an Interactive Campus Map and to printable PDF maps of campus. 

The buildings we will be making use of are:

The Village Residence Hall - this name will find it on Google Maps and the Interactive Campus Map (L30 on the PDF campus map)

Faculty Club - Faculty Center on the maps but everyone calls it the Faculty Club (L7 on the PDF campus map)

Goldfarb Library - same on the maps (U26 on the PDF campus map)

Mandel Center for the Humanities - same (U10 on the PDF campus map)

Your registration packets will have a detailed map with walking directions. The PDFs are also attached below this box of instructions. 

Campus is on the side of a hill and deceptively steep between the Faculty Club and Mandel.  If you have mobility restrictions (or sprain your ankle in the next week) please get in touch with Melanie Radik to arrange on-campus transportation.

Construction

It is summer break on a New England campus, so it is construction season!  At the moment no roads should be obstructed for these three days but if that changes there will be traffic cops and/or detour signs. 

There is construction on the walking path outside the library and we are down to one entrance.  The entrance faces the Usdan Student Center.  The most direct path between the Faculty Club and the Library or Mandel has a detour and an unavoidable staircase: there will be signs.  You can instead follow Loop Road between the buildings for a slightly longer walk but no stairs.

Parking
Parking is open during the summer, so there will be no parking passes.  Please observe all posted reserved, handicapped, and otherwise restricted spaces.

The Tower Parking Lot, the most convenient lot to Mandel, is gated for staff/faculty only and is NOT available for Boot Camp attendees.

There are a couple of small parking lots directly adjacent to the Mandel Center for the Humanities as well as parking spaces on Loop Road; they fill up but if you're coming early enough to make it to Wednesday morning activities or the Thursday or Friday morning sessions there might be spaces.  

Registration

Attendees staying overnight will receive their registration packet at the residence hall at check-in.

All others attending Wednesday morning tours please register at the Goldfarb Library building, at the Information & Borrowing desk, between 8:30am and 1pm.

If arriving after 1pm on Wednesday please register at the Mandel Center for the Humanities building. 
Thursday- or Friday-only registration will be at the Mandel Center between 8:00am and the beginning of the session. 

Meals

All meals except Thursday dinner will be buffet style at the Faculty Club.  There will be a meal card in your registration packet.  All ingredients are listed at the buffet and there will be choices to meet all nutritional needs communicated when you registered, but if special care to avoid cross-contamination is necessary, please ask for the manager.

Thursday night's dinner will be a catered meal at the Faculty Club, and also our 10th anniversary celebration!  There will be a cash bar, photobooth, games, and reminiscing.

Coffee, tea, and snacks will be provided at breaks in each session and the capstone at the Mandel Center.

Lecture Hall

All topic sessions and the capstone will take place in the Mandel Center for the Humanities auditorium (room G03).  The auditorium is on the ground floor directly in front of the main entrance.

Directions

Brandeis University is located at 415 South St., Waltham, MA 02453

There will be lawn signs to get you from the campus entrance to the parking lot and from the parking lot to the residence hall but here's a short turn-by-turn.

• After turning off South St. into campus, turn left as you head uphill. 
• Take the first left, which is just past two little parking lots on the left.  If you pass the large round building you have gone too far.
• Follow that road to the Theater Parking Lot.  Park anywhere.
• Walk down the path that is on the left as you enter the parking lot: your residence hall is straight ahead. 

If you enter "Carl and Ruth Shapiro Admissions Center Brandeis University," Google Maps will get you within sight of the Theater Parking Lot.

Residence Hall

Your rooms are in The Village, which is L28 on the Printable Maps linked on the above page, and listed under Residence Halls on the Interactive Campus Map in the link above.  It's the building straight ahead on the path from the Theater Parking Lot.  There will be a lawn sign indicating the right door. 

Tuesday check-in, someone will be available to give you your room assignment and key from 5pm - 10pm.

Wednesday check-in, someone will be available 8am - 2pm.

If you need to arrive outside of those hours please reach out to Ellen Lutz, lutz@library.umass.edu, and Melanie Radik, mradik@brandeis.edu. 

You will have a single room with a shared bathroom for the floor, so please plan accordingly for trekking to the showers! 

There is a shared kitchen on each floor, as well, with a microwave, refrigerator, and cooktop, but Melanie hasn't seen them, so we are unsure of the size or quality of the appliances.

Meals for Tuesday Arrivals
For Tuesday arrivals, please keep in mind that boot camp meals start with lunch on Wednesday, and no dining halls will be open for general dining for either Tuesday dinner or Wednesday breakfast.  There are lots of amazing dinner options in Waltham, and Brandeis maintains a helpful list here: http://www.brandeis.edu/about/visiting/eat.html

Breakfast options include:

Einstein Brothers Bagels, open 8am, a 5-10 minute walk from the dorm, located in the Shapiro Campus Center (the big green building)
South Street Cafe, open at 8am, a ten minute walk south from The Village, across from the commuter rail station

Panera, open at 6am, a mile and a half north of campus so a short drive 

If you don't plan to drive to Waltham, here are some other transportation options:

Things to consider bringing:

• shampoo, conditioner, SOAP (including hand soap), shower items (and something to carry them in, as bathrooms are not en suite)
• flip flops (for showers)
• robe (for trekking to & from the bathroom)
• pillow (if you have a favorite one)
• power strip
• phone, tablet, laptop, etc. (do not need to bring to every session, but helpful for completing evaluations and for Evaluating Journals portion of Capstone)
• chargers (phone, tablet, laptop, mp3 player, etc.)
• alarm clock
• musical instruments (if you play)
• snacks and drinks (though we do provide some during sessions & capstone)
• walking shoes
• rain gear
• umbrella
• clothes hangers
• reading lamp
• fan
• extra blanket (dorm temperatures can be unpredictable)
• sweater or sweatshirt (library temperature can be unpredictable, too)
• mattress pad (mattresses in dorms are often slick and it can be a challenge getting a flat sheet to stay on!)

Things provided:

• linens (sheets for bed, pillow & pillowcase, towel)
• snacks and beverages during science sessions & capstone
• merit badges for completing evaluations for each session