Interview with Maura Nsonwu

name: Maura Nsonwu
occupation: faculty at North Carolina Child Welfare Education Collaborative

interview:

1.what kind of group services do you do?
I work with refugees and immigrants in training and education (specifically for lead paint program)

2. What kind of facilities would you need or want, idealy?
Some smaller meeting spaces for 5/6 people and one or two spaces to accomidate 20-30 people. Up to 15 closed-door private office spaces. Several classrooms with move-able seating and individual table-tops for seminars, diversity classes, etc... Would like the tables and chairs to face each other in a u-shape or oval shape. A cubical space for faculty who do not house there as their main office but do have a smaller space to put their purse, jacket, do some work and communicate with other staff members. A break-room or kitchen for staff and also for immigrants to prepare dishes in a class setting. A welcoming space for a receptionist. A copy/printing space. A mailbox/mail room. Open space where immigrants can meet, greet, drink coffee and socialize (coffee, couches, art, etc...) Parking is crucial for visitors, staff and faculty!!! Appropriate signs for parking in different languages!! And lots and lots of windows!!! Makes such a difference!!

3. How many people typically participate in group projects at one time?
Sometimes meetings can be small- up to 5 or 6 people. Some can be the whole department with up to 20 people. On a rare occasion, we would need enough space to have up to 30 people in a room.

4. What nationalities do you deal with most often?
Most people fall under at least 1 of 3 categories: Latino-Hispanic, African, or Montagnard)

5. What kind of material things would you idealy need in a facility?
Projection and computer system in some of the meeting spaces and classrooms for powerpoints. A VCR/DVD and TV set would be ideal for showing videos. Comfortable chairs and moveable tables. Dry-erase boards are easy for writing things quickly that everyone can see.

6. Are there any issues for design that may result from all the different cultures?
Thats a good question... but I don't really know. Most of the work I have done is out-reach so I have not dealt with crossing cultures.

7. What is transportation like for most of the immigrants your program deals with?
Most do not have cars but the Latino-Hispanic population is definately more likely to have a car over any other nationality. It is good to do out-reach because the immigrants usually feel more comfortable in their own home but for their children who are going through the immigration process, it is good and important for them to see what higher-education here in America is like (if the facility was placed on campus).