Construction updates, November 2007 Major finishing for the Library & Technology Center has moved indoors as workers move projects forward to complete the building for use in Fall 2008.
New library instruction classroom will yield more info-savvy students
When the new Library Technology Center opens on the Parham Road Campus in spring 2008, among the features that will be of greatest benefit to both students and faculty will be the college's first computer classroom dedicated to instructing students in the use of advanced information resources. While the college's professional librarians have long led sessions on using the library for students through library orientation sessions, these opportunities have been limited by the availability of general computer classrooms. On the main floor of the library in the new Library Technology Center, there will be, for the first time at the college, a classroom dedicated to housing classes on how to use the complex new information resources available in the library of the 21st century. While many students are very savvy about technology, many are unaware of the effective use of the plethora of information available on the Internet, especially for academic purposes.
The library instruction classroom will have 24 student computers and the same range of instructional equipment that will be found in the new building's regular classrooms: a ceiling-mounted data projector, interactive Smartboards and other advanced teaching technologies. The librarians will offer a combination of special open-enrollment sessions throughout the semester for students in any JSRCC course as well as special sessions arranged with faculty members who will bring their students to the library for special instruction connected to an assignment in their courses. In addition, the classroom may be used to offer library orientation to new students during the college's expanded SOAR (Student Orientation Advising & Registration) sessions and other orientation sessions designed to introduce students to the resources available to help them succeed at Reynolds.
Even though the new Library Technology Center will not open until the spring, the library will begin this fall expanding its offering of library instruction for students. Look for a schedule of sessions in the Fall 2007 class schedule and on the library's web page at www.reynolds.edu/library And neither faculty nor students need to wait till the new building opens to arrange for special library instruction sessions. You can do that today on the library's web site or by stopping by the library on any campus and speaking with one of the college's librarians.
New staff training classroom will help raise faculty and staff to new levels of technology use
When the new Library Technology Center opens on the Parham Road Campus in spring 2008, for the first time in more than five years the college will have a dedicated technology training classroom. Long-time employees will remember the Center for Advanced Technology (aka the CAT Lab) in the old Instructional Technologies & Distance Education (IT&DE) area at North Run. That space was shut down because of budget cuts in February 2003, and since then all our technology training has had to be held in regular college classrooms, essentially limiting technology training to the afternoons or other times when the classrooms were not being used for credit instruction.
With the new Library Technology Center, the college will again have a space dedicated to housing advanced professional development opportunities (PDOs) for faculty and staff. The flexible schedule will allow us to hold half-day sessions during the morning and afternoon or even full-day sessions.
The space will be located in Room 338 on the third floor adjacent to the offices of the Technology Training department and the Center for Distance Learning. It will accommodate 12 people plus an instructor and will be equipped with 13 desktop computers, color laser printer, a ceiling-mounted data projector, and the full range of advanced technologies that will be found in all of the other new classrooms in the LTC: Smartboards, ceiling-mounted document cameras, and more. When future new classroom technologies begin to be deployed at the college, they will first be deployed in this staff training room so instructors can practice using the equipment in a rehearsal environment.
The dedicated staff training classroom with its flexible schedule will also provide a venue for delivering the full range of technology courses (ITEC) in the college's professional development curriculum.
Scheduling of this staff training room will be coordinated by the Manager of Technology Training, but it will be available for use by all units at the college for delivering professional development sessions.
Academic Computing Center to replace cramped open lab
Prime among the many new spaces in the Library Technology Center, now under construction on the Parham Road Campus, will be an expanded Academic Computing Center. That's the new name for what used to be known as the Open Computer Lab. Currently located in Room 115 in Burnette Hall adjacent to the Parham library, it is hardly "open," with 50 computer stations crowded into small rooms that were designed originally as the college's Language Lab and Learning Lab in the 1970s before Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had even dreamed of the desktop PC.
The new Academic Computing Center will be located on the entry level of the Library Technology Center. There will be seating for 75 students at comfortable SmartDesks designed specifically for computers with plenty of space for keyboards, mice, books and notebooks. Gone will be today's cramped, claustrophobia-inducing desktops.
Several of the desks will have special include ADA features to expand student accessibility.
Students entering the Academic Computing Center will be greeted at a nicely appointed reception counter where they can check in and receive assistance using the Center's wide range of technology resources. Just past the reception area, students will find an expanded printing counter. In addition, the Academic Computing Center will feature three large plasma screens where rotating messages about available services and college activities will always be in view. The Academic Computing Center will have the same smart projection technologies to be found in the LTC's regular computer classrooms, so demonstrations can be offered to large groups on the many new technology resources that the college will have to enhance teaching and learning.
Group study rooms will offer students new venues for learning
A significant new feature of the Library Technology Center will be 10 group study rooms. Six of the group study rooms will be located in the lower level of the library, and another four will be located in the building's third floor, which will be the main instructional section and will feature seven new classrooms. Each group study room will feature a comfortable table and chairs for four to eight students and a wall-mounted flat-screen monitor, where students can work together on computer projects, doing web-based research (using the ubiquitous wireless network) or view DVD's and other digital media. There are no similar rooms anywhere in the college's existing facilities, so this will give students and faculty an important new opportunity for collaborative learning that heretofore had to be done in cramped corners in the existing library, in noisy commons areas, or in a rarely vacant classroom.
The group study rooms should also be a boon to the college's increasing focus on active, cooperative learning found in such strategic projects as the Learning Communities initiative. Group study rooms have been an important feature of the Library Technology Center's design from its original concept and was mentioned repeatedly in the vision for the Learning Commons refined in 2005. The college's Learning Commons Advisory Team has developed procedures for the use of these rooms. They will be available for currently enrolled students and staff. They will need to be reserved in advance via the web, telephone, or in-person at the Circulation Desk in the Learning Commons. For purposes of safety and security, they will remain locked when not in use. Reservations will be limited to two hours, with one renewal if no other group needs the room. Study rooms that have not been reserved will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis. As time goes by, of course, these procedures may be changed to ensure that the rooms can be used to their best advantage to meet their intended goal of providing an opportunity to enhance student engagement and improve student success. Those are, of course, the goals of the Library Technology Center as a whole.
Construction updates, May 2007
Reynolds college recently embarked upon several expansion
projects that will add much needed classroom and laboratory space and
enhance the aesthetic appeal, functionality and learning environment of
our Parham Road and
Downtown campuses. Over the past two years, nearly all classrooms on all
three campuses have been renovated—receiving new paint, carpet, and
ceiling tiles, as well as new furniture and instructional technology. A
significant percentage of offices have also been renovated.
With master planning on the Parham Road
Campus complete, some obvious changes—and some not so obvious
changes—are occurring or have occurred right before our eyes:
Burnette Hall on the Parham Road Campus will receive a
comprehensive renovation to include science laboratories, building
systems and accessibility requirements (ADA). A request for a
similar renovation to Georgiadis Hall is pending, as well as a
request for the renovation of the Downtown Campus building. A new
Workforce Training and Technology Center with an administrative
component is under design and will replace space leased for
Community Workforce Alliance at
North Run as well as the Central Administration Building, moving
both to the Parham Road Campus. New interior and external signage
will be installed as renovations are completed and new buildings
come online. Furthermore, preliminary discussions have commenced
regarding the development of an auto body repair instructional
laboratory on the Western Campus and the concept for an Eastern
Henrico Campus is being refined.
“Our goal in all these renovations is to achieve
physical facilities that are modern and accommodate services to
students that are easily located and which by design, invite
students to linger longer on the campus to pursue academic or social
activities,” said Tim Brown, vice president for finance and
administration.
