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Campus News
- Groundbreaking held for new $48M library
- Black History Month events
- Regional tuition rate extended
- 2010 Child Engagement Conference to be held March 5-6
Groundbreaking held for new $48M library
Legislators, local government leaders, and the University community gathered in parking lot 3 to break ground for the new 180,000 sq. ft. UTC library.
UTC Chancellor Roger Brown, Dr. Phil Oldham, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Tyler Forrest, UTC Student Government Association President, and Tennessee State Senator Bo Watson shared brief remarks about what the new facility will mean for the University.
UTC first requested a new library in 1989. The Lupton Library was built in 1974, housed 170,000 volumes, and occupied 116,000 sq. feet. The student population then was 4,574 compared to 10,526 today.
“We feel so fortunate, given the economy, that the new UTC library is moving ahead and is on schedule to open in January 2012,” said Theresa Liedtka, Dean of the Lupton Library.
Chancellor Brown calls the library the heart of the university.
“Looking at our university, that’s almost certainly geographically true as our current Lupton Library lies near the campus heart. It is with great anticipation that we gather to celebrate the beginning of not just a new building on our campus, but quite possibly the single most significant building on any campus,” said Brown.
Dr. Phil Oldham, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, said the library will be substantially different than its precursors in design and technology.
“There is even much more to a library than a place to research and learn. I think that’s especially represented on our campus. Libraries have become gathering places for social interaction, for quiet contemplation with a book and a cup of coffee,” said Oldham.
The new library, a joint venture designed by Derthick, Henley & Wilkerson and Artech will also be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.
“The new LEED certified Library will be the first green building on campus. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The new building will feature recycling centers on each floor, loads of windows to take advantage of natural light, and will use recycled water to mention just a few of our green features,” said Liedtka.
The $48 million dollar building will be located on the corner of Vine and Douglas Streets, adjacent to Chamberlain Field.
The library will have 60,000 more square feet than the Lupton Library. A renovation and expansion to the Library has been on the UTC Capital Project list since 1989. In 2000 the Tennessee Higher Education Commission found the current library building deficient by 58,575 square feet. Student learning styles and habits have changed significantly since the current library opened in 1974, as has information research.
“The goal in planning the new library was to create a forward-thinking, adaptable learning space that would serve the campus and the community for decades into the future. Technology is front and center in the new UTC Library. The entire building is designed with the robust infrastructure needed to support today’s and tomorrow’s technology devices, including over 350 computers and 50 smart group study rooms,” said Liedtka.
Liedtka said the new library will also offer a 24 hour study space, quiet nooks and crannies, a café, an advanced computing center, practice presentation rooms, lounges, moveable shelving, art storage, a climate-controlled area for rare and valuable materials, classrooms, and more.
Tyler Forrest, UTC Trustee and SGA President, said students have been waiting a long time for this upgrade.
“The new UTC Library will advance the campus well into the 21st century. With added technology and enhanced services, the library will undoubtedly become the center of our already vibrant campus. We are very excited that it is almost here.”
Construction on the new library has begun and should be completed in 2012.
To learn more about the new library visit:
http://wiki.lib.utc.edu/index.php/Library_Building_Project
Black History Month events
The Office of Multicultural Services announces Black History Month events. The Multicultural Center is located in the UTC University Center:
February 11
Sex for Chocolates, (this program will focus on campus statistics regarding sexually transmitted diseases. Exercises and games centered around safe sex) sponsored by Zeta Iota Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. Multicultural Center, 8:22 p.m., free and open to the public
February 12
“Agape Café” sponsored by L.H. Mason Singers, Multicultural Center 6 p.m., free and open to the public
February 16
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and The UTC Chapter of NAACP present “Blackout: State of Emergency” UC Auditorium, 7 p.m., free and open to the public
February 23
ACE Movie Night “School Daze,” University Center Auditorium, 7 p.m., free and open to the public
February 24
Omega Psi Phi, Fraternity, Inc. and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. present Black History Month Jeopardy, Multicultural Center, 8 p.m., free and open to the public
Regional tuition rate extended
Residents from Georgia and Alabama can now benefit from a reduced graduate tuition rate. UTC announced this step in the direction of full accessibility for North Georgia and Alabama graduate students seeking advanced degrees. Residents of Catoosa, Dade, Fannin, Murray, Walker, and Whitfield counties in Georgia and Jackson county in Alabama qualified for a regional tuition rate for graduate classes at UTC in spring
semester 2010.
Eligible students pay a tuition rate equal to in-house fees plus 25 percent of out of state tuition. Currently, these out-of-state students pay $3,004 per three hour credit course; beginning spring semester 2010, that same three hour credit course will cost $1,591.
“Thanks to a decision by the UT Board of Trustees, we can serve a large population in North Georgia and Jackson County, Alabama, that did not have access to affordable, advanced degrees,” said UTC Provost Philip Oldham. “This reduced tuition rate helps our institution to fulfill its metropolitan mission.”
Master’s and doctoral degrees, certificates and specialist programs are included in the regional tuition rate.
This expansion of the regional tuition rate program follows the unquestioned success of the undergraduate regional tuition program, available for students with more than 60 hours of credit in the Georgia and Alabama counties. In the fall 2009 semester, there were 145 students participating in the Regional Tuition Rate program.
“After conducting an in-depth cost and capacity analysis of all UTC graduate programs, we determined that all of our programs can accommodate additional students without the incurrence of additional costs,” Oldham said.
UTC’s presence in Chattanooga as a major, community engaged university with comprehensive degree offerings at both the undergraduate and graduate levels helped convince Volkswagen executives to select Chattanooga for their $1 billion investment. To adequately serve the needs of all major employers, it is essential for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to provide graduate education to those individuals within its economic service zone.
“The regional tuition program is designed to provide education that will then drive the economy of Tennessee for all its citizens,” Oldham said.
For more information, contact the UTC Graduate School at (423) 425-4666 or on the web at http://www.utc.edu/GraduateSchool/.
Child Engagement Conference to be held March 5-6
Dr. Robin McWilliam, a leading researcher in early intervention/early childhood special education, and Dr. Mary Tanner, Dean of the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies, will speak at the 2010 Child Engagement Conference, a ground-breaking event for the field of early child development to be held Friday-Saturday, March 5-6, at the UTC University Center. To register for the conference, please visithttp://www.childengagementconference.com/
Early childhood professionals and families are invited to participate in lively discussions and learn from top scholars in the fields of early child development and community engagement.
Speakers presenting at the Child Engagement Conference will impart tools for promoting child engagement in the home, in early childhood settings, and in the community. Both families and professionals will benefit from the strategies and skills presented in general lectures and breakout sessions.
Participants may include childcare providers, childcare center directors, family counselors, municipal government leaders, college students, graduate students, parents and caregivers, therapists, school counselors, school administrators, early intervention professionals and early childhood educators.
This conference will offer 20 different breakout sessions on a variety of topics, as well as Dr. Robin McWilliam’s keynote speech and Dr. Mary Tanner’s closing general session speech.
McWilliam is one of the nation’s leading researchers in early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE). He is the director of Siskin Center for Child and Family Research and serves as the Siskin Endowed Chair of Research in Early Childhood Education, Intervention and Development. He holds a faculty appointment in the UTC Education: Graduate Studies Division.
Before coming to Chattanooga, he was the director of the Center for Child Development at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville. In his previous position, he was Senior Scientist and Professor at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was the founder and director of the National Individualizing Preschool Inclusion Project, working in 15 states.
He co-authored the book Engagement of Every Child in the Preschool Classroom.
McWilliam is the Past President of the CEC Division for Research and is on the steering committee for CEC’s efforts to define and identify evidence-based practices in special education. McWilliam’s workshops are highly interactive and applied, and he is in constant demand as a speaker and consultant, throughout the U.S. and in Europe.
Tanner received her Ph.D. in Family and Child Development from the University of Georgia. She joined the faculty of the Human Ecology Department at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1973 and served as the head of the department. In 1995 she was appointed Dean of the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies. She holds a UC Foundation Professorship and was named a Guerry Professor of Education.
As Dean, she has led the College through a number of major academic improvements. It has established its first professional development school and become the first university approved to provide 21st Century Classroom training for K-12 teachers. She developed first Master’s degree in Athletic Training in Tennessee and the first post-master’s degree at UTC, the Education Specialist degree in Educational Technology. Most recently she led the College in gaining approval to offer an Ed.D. in Learning and Leadership.
Tanner represented the University as a member of the planning committee that designed a new school system in Hamilton County, Tennessee. In this effort she facilitated the collaborative work between schools, the University, and the community that created two new downtown elementary university partnership schools.
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