Plans are underway for the proposed Education building, which will be used to house new classrooms and offices that will be geared toward the needs of the College of Education.
Dean of the College of Education Maureen Gillette said that the new building would directly affect other members of the campus and community as well.
”A new building will serve everybody,” said Gillette. The classrooms in the new building will have a feature that most other classrooms lack: movable furniture and walls. Gillette described a classroom scenario that would be familiar to many students: a teacher asks the students to split into groups, the students then have to move around the chairs with attached desks, which can be a cumbersome task. She stated that with the new furniture, students would have a much easier time pushing any number of chairs and tables together to create a well-defined group workspace.
Other benefits of this new building would be that the College of Education offices would be located in the same building. Gillette explained that students wishing to complete paperwork for the college’s programs, including Clinical Experiences in Student Teaching (CEST) work and information on admission to the College of Education, would be able to have “one-stop shopping.” Along with new classrooms and office space, the Education building will also have new labs for counseling and special education, assisted and regular technology classrooms, a new science lab, video labs to critique student teaching and a reading clinic. There will also be a room for real-time strategy viewing, which is where students can go to observe a class being taught a lesson in real-time. This would also give education students the ability to ask questions about the decisions and thought processes the teacher makes.
In previous reports on the proposed new Education building, there was talk of making the building more ‘green’ to follow the university’s green image. Gillette spoke about how the architect that worked on the planning was chosen because they have expertise in designing L.E.E.D. (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings. Throughout the design process they took into consideration the location, heating and cooling systems, and other aspects to make the new building “as eco-friendly as possible.” She also mentioned that in the preliminary planning stages the opinions of students, staff and faculty were taken into account. The preliminary planning was made possible through the assistance of a federal grant supported by then Congressman Rahm Emmanuel.
The building is still in the preliminary planning stages. It was included in the recently approved capital expenditure bill passed by the Illinois legislature and signed by Governor Pat Quinn. While the proposal was approved, the money is not yet appropriated. If students wish to help with getting the appropriation of funding approved for the new building, Gillette suggests that they meet with Suleyma Perez, the Director of Government Relations, and ask what they can do to help.