Social Work addition complete

The bulldozers and cranes that have been a permanent fixture on the southwest corner of East and South University since August 1995 have finally gone away - leaving the shiny new School of Social Work Building in their place.

In the summer of 1988, Social Work Prof. Jesse Gordon wrote a proposal to the University emphasizing the need to build a new social work building.

Ten years later, the building is completed and University community members can take part in a dedication day and celebration ceremonies on Sept. 25.

Until this semester, the school was based mainly in the Frieze Building, where space was growing scare for the expanding school, and the faculty was scattered across Central Campus.

The University approved Gordon's proposal in July of 1988, and groundbreaking to begin construction took place in August.

MARGARET MYERS/Daily The School of Social Work Building was recently completed. A dedication ceremony will be held Sept. 25 for University community members.

The new building, which was finished last semester, houses the top ranked social work graduate program, according to U.S. News & World Report.

David Crampton, a Social Work graduate student, said the new building "helps everyone (in the school) feel more professional and legitimate."

Social Work Dean Paula Allen-Meares said the most impressive feature of the new building is the access to technology resources.

"I think that one of the most exciting things about the new building is the spectacular library and cutting edge technology that it offers," Allen-Meares said.

Along with a full library, which Allen-Meares has dubbed "the hub of intellectual activity," the Comprehensive Resource Center contains a fully integrated computing site for students to retrieve information at the push of a button.

Every classroom contains ethernet ports for online access, desktop computers and video projectors. From each podium, the instructor can control the lights, projector and VCR. The touch-screen information station in the lobby allows visitors access to a full directory and schedule of classes and events.

Also, the Distance Learning Facility allows students and faculty to communicate in a video conference to almost any location around the world.

The faculty offices were designed around octagonal open stairways, in order to promote face-to-face communication between the staff, while the classrooms and research offices have been built in the halls between the stairways, Gordon said.

Crampton said the new facilities "allows (the students and faculty in the school) to interact more than before and create more of a community within the school."

In addition to the technological and educational advantages the new building offers, it is also quite a work of art, Allen-Meares said.

The brick and limestone exterior remains consistent to the dominant genre of the buildings on Central Campus. The school's interior contains 40 museum-quality works, including a commissioned sculpture by nationally renowned sculptor Sam Gilliam.

The facilities of this new building correspond to a revised curriculum that was established in 1997, which Dean Allen-Meares said "provides a rich environment to support and add to the research, instruction and service agenda of the school."

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