The broken window on the third floor of the Nesbitt Academic Building is soon to be repaired, Director of Facilities and Operations Bill Moody confirmed this week.  

The facilities department has removed any broken glass and made the area safe, although students may notice a draft on their way to class. The window overlooks the parking lot next to the 3100 level classrooms. 

Patch work has been applied to minimize rain and other weather damage to the inside of the building, but a full repair is pending the delivery of a replacement window. The facilities department expects to install new glass sometime this week.  

“Facilities have made it safe,” Moody said. “A new window has been ordered and will be installed as soon as it comes in.”  

The ambiguity surrounding how and when the window was damaged has captured the interest of many students. The incident received no publicity from the school but Building and Landscape Manager Ross Adams mentioned the weather may have been a factor.  

“We brought the glass company out last week and had them measure it,” Adams said. “According to the glass guy, the heat and changing temperatures caused it to break.”  

Windows cracking under changing temperature is a well-documented phenomenon known as “thermal stress.” Pressure builds up inside the glass due to the center of the window heating up while the corners are still cool. It’s unclear if the excess heat came from the sun or from interior air conditioning. 

The department ordered stronger, tempered glass to prevent future breaks. This type of window is frequently used in cars and aquariums because, if it does break, the small, granulated shards it produces are less likely to cause injury.

UNG faculty also completely ruled out vandalism as a source of the break, in case of any ambiguity. Vice President of University Relations and Chief of Staff Kate Maine mentions neither she nor UNG’s Office of Public Safety were even made aware of the damaged window. 

“Public safety has confirmed with the university’s facilities staff that a window was broken, but that there was no need to file a police report for vandalism.” – Kate Maine

Campus crime logs feature no reported vandalisms or instances of damage to property for the Nesbitt building within the last 239 entries. The only reported crime at the building in the month of October was a vehicle accident; an instance of the fire alarm going off is the sole entry for September.  

Still, the broken window is a novelty. Approximately 40 to 50 percent of the glass received damage in what could be described as a testament to Georgia’s truly unruly weather.  

More details on the repair will be shared as information becomes available.