New Innovative Academic Building Opens At Loyola University Maryland
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Students at Loyola University Maryland now have access to some of the latest technology and innovative classrooms right in the heart of their campus.
The university is celebrating the opening of the Miguel B. Fernandez Family Center for Innovation and Collaborative Learning, a 35,000-square-foot building on the quad off of Cold Spring Lane.
"The building is absolutely amazing," said Jack Baldwin, a senior at the university. "It definitely is the nicest building we have on campus."
The opening of the new center makes the school's quad more contemporary while still preserving the historical buildings around it.
The center is adjacent to the renovated Beatty Hall.
University press release states that the renovation is the most important large-scale academic renovation on Loyola's campus in 10 years.
"The building really represents a physical manifestation of a movement that's been going on here at Loyola for a while," said Terrence Sawyer, Senior Vice President of Loyola University Maryland. "And that is really a movement around innovation and collaborative learning and just new ways that our faculty are teaching, new ways new ways that our students are looking to learn."
The building features active learning classrooms that are open and can be easily reconfigured for different teaching styles.
It also includes the Forbes Idea Lab, a space encircled by 360-degrees of whiteboards to encourage brainstorming, the Rizzo Career Center, an academic loft for students and faculty to engage in interdisciplinary learning, a café, outdoor space and new technology.
"I think the technology that built into the building is nothing that I've seen in any other buildings," said Kaleigh Gallagher, a senior. "This has like cameras built into the tv so you can have webinars and seminars."
Collaborative spaces for students to work together are another key feature of the building.
"It was really built with the idea of collaborative in mind and working in teams which I think is something that I think every school needs," said Baldwin.
To learn more about the Fernandez Center, click here.