By Marc Brodsky
Students walk past the construction site where parking lot 2 once stood, but few know what the new building will be. Currently known as the “academic building,” or “site 13,” according to the campus map, the project is RVCC’s first step into a more technology-oriented future.
According to Chuck Chulvick, vice president of learning and technology services, the $15 million building will be three stories high and students will reclaim about eighty parking spaces when it opens. It will contain eighteen classrooms, nine of which will be equipped with a computer at every station. The computer labs used for classrooms will accommodate thirty students, six more than the current labs. There will also be ten faculty offices, a new multi-media lab, a video editing suite and a new conference room.
“It will be nice to have all the technology in one spot,” said Chulvick, adding that the building’s proximity to parking and the front of the college means it will be one of the first things potential RVCC students will see when they come to visit the campus.
The first floor of the building will be accessible from parking lot 2 and will consist of classrooms equipped with audio / video capabilities. Classrooms without computers will have wireless internet accessibility and network capability, enabling students and professors to connect their own laptops for presentations or to share information.
The second floor will be home to the new MIS help desk, computer labs, a small conference room, the multi-media lab and video editing studio. Having been built into a hillside, the second floor will be ground level on the campus interior, allowing access to the quad.
The third floor will become the new home of RVCC’s CIS department. In addition, the third floor will have more computer labs and a casual student lounge with a panoramic view of the RVCC campus. The lounge will also be equipped with wireless internet access. The entire project is scheduled for completion by summer 2007.
Not only will the new site be the home to RVCC’s technology, the building itself will also be equipped with upgraded technology. Electro-magnetic locks and surveillance cameras will allow an operator to have control over the building’s functions from a remote location. Surveillance cameras will provide added security as well as allow an operator to let students into a locked room at the click of a button or recognize when a room is empty and lock it without physically having to walk to the door.
John Trojan, vice president for finance and facilities, confirmed that the new building, officially named the Academic Learning Center, is the first step in a long-term expansion at RVCC intended to accommodate an increased number of students in the future. Where exactly the next step will be is uncertain at this point, but Trojan indicated that the Board of Trustees is considering proposals. “We want to make things more student friendly,” he said. “It’s a question of when the money comes.”
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