Jess Web/Photo EditorNo longer will students be dragging their feet to class this fall semester. The opening of the new Science Education and Technology building has students enthusiastic about approaching their classes. While students relax in the newly furnished glass entrance foyer, they shared their input on the new technology building before heading off to a lecture.
Greg Nacarelli, a pre-pharmacy major, said, “I am looking forward to the labs in the new SET building. It’s really exciting for all science students to have access to all these new materials.”
All the classrooms are equipped with SMART technology. The first floor, which is primarily for IST department classes, has five computer classrooms. In addition, a glass-front room is just off the entrance foyer, which is a general PC lab that may also double as a classroom. There are two multipurpose computer labs, one on each of the upper science floors, that are equipped with ten PCs. ITR is offering a dedicated day and evening to AV and computer support. Also, Dr. Sherry Fuller-Espie and Dr. Kimberly Boyd have acquired a total of 104 laptops through grants for use in the biology, chemistry and physics classrooms and labs.
Science Education and Technology students are not the only students who have the opportunity to receive more hands-on experience with the new technological advances made in the center. Students in the graphic design department are also receiving a taste of the new technological advances in the SET building. They maintain the programming for the kiosk that is located in the lobby. Carolyn Roberts, an exercise science major, said, “I think all of the students are going to benefit greatly from the SET building.”
Nacarelli and other students agreed that the new lecture hall in the SET building is quite different from what they have had in previous years. The new lecture hall, a special feature of the building on the first floor, has wired connections for 72 laptops and is equipped as a video conference center with cameras, microphones, speakers, two projectors for simultaneous video presentations, Smart Technology’s Sympodium and full electronic control from the podium. Freshman, Scott Reimer said, “I am really looking forward to working in here.”
