By Michelle Hines, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 5-18-09
Chancellor Brady led the groundbreaking for
the new School of Education Building. The
building should be ready by Fall 2011.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG today broke ground for a new, energy efficient, 120,000-square-foot School of Education building.
The new building, which will stand at Spring Garden and Stirling streets next to the Bryan School of Business and Economics, will house five of six departments within the School of Education. Completion is expected by Fall 2011.
The $47 million structure will meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council. The sustainable design is expected to save about 35 percent on energy costs.
“North Carolina needs us, especially in the areas of education and school leadership; we must ensure that we are constantly evolving to meet the challenges and opportunities that will face our schools and families,” Chancellor Linda P. Brady told the crowd who gathered for the groundbreaking. “And that means, in part, providing the proper facilities and resources that equip our professors to teach, our students to learn and UNCG to lead.”
The $47 million budget includes design fees, furniture and contingencies. Former Gov. Mike Easley fast-tracked the new building as part of a $700 million capital improvements project to stimulate the state’s economy.
Economists estimate that for each dollar spent on a construction project, $2.28 is pumped into the state’s economy, and that every $1 million spent on a project results in 36 new jobs. The new School of Education building has the potential to create nearly 1,700 new jobs.
“The state deemed this School of Education building as one of those critical projects that would ultimately help our economy,” Brady said. “The state also knew it would be cost effective to take advantage of interest rates and building costs that have lowered in recent months.”
The School of Education has been housed in the Curry Building for the past 83 years, but the school has outgrown the building as enrollment has increased, Brady said. “Times and technology have demanded not just that we move forward, but that we lead the charge, that we accelerate our pace so that we do not react to change, but that we, in fact, inspire that change.”
Five of six SOE departments (Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations, Educational Research Methodology, Library and Information Studies and Specialized Education Services) will move from Curry into the new building.
One SOE department – Counseling and Educational Development – will remain in Curry. The counselor education program operates a counseling center, the Vacc Lab, in the adjoining Ferguson Building.
SOE teaching and support resources will include: a teaching resource center, a mathematics and science institute, a state-of-the art sign language lab, a multimedia lab, instructional computer labs, an assistive technology lab, a research support center and offices for outreach activities.
The building will also include 19 general use classrooms with capacities of 30, 40, 60, and 70 seats; two larger lecture halls of 200 and 300 seat capacities; and a 100-seat, tiered case study classroom . In addition, collaboration spaces, intended to facilitate and encourage student/ faculty interaction, will be provided throughout the building. All classrooms and lecture halls will have A/V and data systems installations with teaching stations and presentation systems incorporated into their design.
The new classrooms are critical to the university’s need for teaching space. Student enrollment currently stands at 17,467, up from 17,157 the previous year.
“UNCG has a proud history of being an educational leader in North Carolina and the nation,” said Dale Schunk, dean of the School of Education. “When Erskine Bowles became president of the UNC system of higher education, he made education one of his top priorities. This new building is a testimony to this priority. It clearly shows the importance UNCG places on professional education.”
