The portable classrooms consisting of seven trailers behind Penn and Founder Halls are not necessarily conducive to learning, according to students and professors at Bucks.

“The portables are an outrage to the college community and most of all to the administration,” said Hendrik Booraem, professor of history, social and behavioral science at Bucks. “They were erected over 40 years ago as ‘temporary’ housing and since then have been maintained at a minimal level,” he said.

The portables were erected about 25 to 28 years ago and were constructed due to a lack of funds for a more permanent structure, said Bucks’ Vice President Barbara Miller. The buildings were a suggestion by Bucks’ first president Charles E. Rollins as temporary classrooms to meet the growing needs of students and the budget, Miller said.

“For the last 20 years they deteriorated in place under the presidency of a man who fancied himself a builder,” said Booraem regarding former President James J. Linksz who retired from Bucks in 2012.

Although Linksz began seeking a more permanent building structure he was unable to accomplish this goal during his term at the college, Miller said. “When the plans eventually go through most (portables) will go and a new more permanent structure will go up in their place,” Miller said.

As of now no dates were given for the construction of the project.

Miller stressed the “importance to serve the needs of students” as the motivation behind the portables original construction.

Yet, Booraem argues that the buildings in their current state aren’t meeting up to the college’s high standards.

“(These buildings) are subject to the noise of college traffic and construction, the forgetfulness of security and the vagaries of weather. Their AV arrangements are inadequate, so that students with classes in them are deprived of an important dimension of learning. That they should continue year after year is a running gag at the expense of students and taxpayers,” he said.

Many students that have attended courses inside the buildings agreed with Booraem assessments.

“Students don’t learn as easily when they are uncomfortable…students demand more in this age,” said Matt Hoffer, 19, business administration major from Churchville.

The portables are “kind of a backhand to students to be put in the trailers,” said Jordan Silver, 19, liberal arts major from Warrington.

Both students extended the notion that tuition be somewhat reduced for classes being conducted inside the portable classrooms.

Others were less bothered about by the classroom setting noting how the rooms were dull as most learning environments. The fact that the portables are also far away was also mentioned by Ray Harrison, a liberal arts major, 23, from Bensalem.

One other student commented on the bathroom situation in the portables: “No bathrooms in them, which is especially a problem in the winter, Why don’t they just build one big building,” said Brandon Bruschini, 19, a meteorology major from Yardley.

Booraem, who currently teaches in the portables, said there were some advantages to working in the portables. “As professional discipline, they are probably good for younger faculty. Every teacher needs to learn how to cope with isolation and limited facilities. They have the shabby charm of a spontaneous party in the woods,” he said.

While the portables may have held some good reasons when they were built, it is apparent that many believe that the portables are well past their prime.