Standard VI. Physical Resources and Facilities

VI.5 The school's systematic planning and evaluation process includes review of the adequacy of access to physical resources and facilities for the delivery of a program. Within applicable institutional policies, faculty, staff, students, and others are involved in the evaluation process.

The iSchool faculty, staff and students provided their opinions to the Dean, the Associate Dean, and the Director of Administration about the repurposed use and design of the new student work spaces on the iSchool’s third and eighth floors. Significant input was proffered by the students, who participated in three focus groups to present their perspectives on use of the facility and designed accoutrements. In general, the Council also has the responsibility to review the allocation and use of other spaces throughout the facility.

The input from these various groups truly drove the design of the new facilities on the third and eighth floors of the iSchool. Students and faculty requested spaces appropriate for working in small groups and for spaces with the necessary quiet for contemplative studying. The third floor space offers both – the front of the space offers furnishings and multi-media technology to support working on team projects. The rear section of the space is designated as a “quiet space” and will be furnished with individual study carrels or solo seating. The faculty specifically requested enclosed spaces to permit research meetings, including the technology to work with research partners across the globe. The students asked for spaces in which they could practice presentations or engage in small-group lectures. The Third Floor space will provide for both. All contributors to the dialogue about uses for the space noted a need for numerous electrical supplies, for re-configurable furnishings, and multi-media capabilities. The Third Floor space will feature mediascape conference tables, which are designed for a “walk-up and connect experience” and which allow for people to access and share information through multiple-input capabilities.

The Eighth Floor space will feature a new data center, which will facilitate a secure computing environment for both research and learning for faculty and students. The students who participated in the focus groups expressed a need for space that would accommodate 10-15 people for seminars that would also have conferencing capabilities (for PhD defenses, for example). Such are planned for in the redesign of the eighth floor. The space will also offer students access to scanners, printers, and other office tools. At this time, that floor is under construction to repair and upgrade the infrastructure including air conditioning, new restroom facilities, power supplies and sound dampening. Once these infrastructure improvements are done, the School will commence on the space furnishings and finishes.

As noted in Standard VI.1, the Board of Visitors was instrumental in initiating efforts to renovate the School facilities, students and faculty have contributed greatly to the design and use plans for the large spaces on the third and eighth floors, and the SIS Council has provided a forum for discussion of each space design. As the School looks forward to expanding its activities in the signature research areas, the Council and program faculty will be consulted on how to incorporate these efforts into the existing iSchool facility.