 ampus-wide, the University's living and learning environment has become safer, cleaner, more convenient and more modern for students and employees. Because of the Student Services Building, for instance, freshmen are no longer forced to race all over campus to enroll for courses, pay bills or obtain grade transcripts.
And, with the 1992 addition of the $20.5 million Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center (supported by $10.5 million in private donations), "the square footage of indoor practice space available to student athletes has doubled," Athletics Director Edgar Johnson reports.
Students in the Department of Chemical Engineering now have access to an additional 40,000 square feet of space because of the $22 million renovation of and addition to the Allan P. Colburn Laboratory, which received approximately $7 million in private support from donors like the DuPont Co. and alumnus Morton Collins. The nearby Lammot du Pont Laboratory offers research facilities as well as new office space.
Art Department facilities also have improved dramatically, according to Chair Martha Carothers.
"Taylor Hall was originally a gymnasium, with shower heads on the ground floor and everything," she says. "Another facility, Recitation Hall, had no wheelchair accessibility, and we experienced flooding on a regular basis."
Today, Carothers says, Taylor Hall has been redesigned to include artists' studios with skylights and safe, clean workspaces. The $5.4 million renovation project, bolstered by $2.7 million from private and University funds with a matching state donation, also has brought new life to historic Recitation Hall, as well as adjacent Recitation Annex.
Almost all UD classroom space has now been renovated to support the use of multi-media teaching tools, and Elliott Hall was refurbished and serves as an Advising Center for students in the University's largest academic unit, the College of Arts and Science.
Similarly, the historic George Evans House was renovated to provide space for student tutorial services. By spending in excess of 2 percent of the replacement value of the campus on renovation projects, the University was able to make-over a host of other aging facilities. Refurbishments have already been completed for McKinly Laboratory, Mitchell Hall, Robinson Hall, Delaware Stadium, the Delaware Diamond baseball stadium, Delaware Field House, Brown Laboratory, Laurel Hall (also known as the Student Health Service), the English Language Institute, Rodney Dining Hall, Hartshorn Hall and the Visitors Center, among other facilities.
"Recent construction projects reflect the natural evolution of University facilities," says Thomas Vacha, assistant vice president for facilities. "The University isn't interested in unrestrained growth. Our physical plant has a replacement value of about $900 million, and we need to protect our investment in these facilities. We also need to deal with some growing pains to make sure that we can properly accommodate all of our students in the future."
Technologies improve the University's living and learning environment, too. By logging onto U-Discover!, the University's site on the Internet, students today can search for rare books at the UD's Hugh M. Morris Library and at distant libraries, share global-warming data with researchers stationed in the Antarctic and learn more about financial management strategies at European institutions. Access to the Internet supplements an array of electronic databases at the Morris Library, and it prepares students for careers in an increasingly technology-driven world.
Reducing the hassle factor for students is another advantage of technology. By typing a personal security code into a public computer terminal in the Student Services Building or anywhere else on campus, students can access their grades and other personal information using software known as SIS/PLUS (Student Information System/Plus), via the U-Discover! computer network.
In the Advising Center, a computer-based degree auditing system now "gives professors more time to talk with students about their goals," says Claudia Fischer, assistant dean in the College of Arts and Science.
Voice, video and data technologies--from private mailboxes to a campus-wide television network and a Touch-Tone telephone system for dropping or adding courses--all are part of a student-centered University. In 1994 and 1995, the University of Delaware gained national prominence when its technology systems received two awards from CAUSE, an information-resource group including 1,200 higher education institutions and corporate partners worldwide. The 1994 award recognized the school's outstanding campus-wide network planning, management and accessibility, as well as application of the network to enhance teaching, learning, research, administration and community service.
The most recent CAUSE award, for "best practices in services," recognized an electronic quiz that promotes student awareness of responsible computing.
Students, meanwhile, are fully embracing opportunities to make use of computer resources. Last year, the University's Information Technologies (IT) unit fielded 1,800 requests for computer hook-ups in student dorm rooms. By November of this year, nearly 5,000 requests had been handled in campus residence halls.
Thanks to high-profile recognition, the University's electronic resources have become an effective selling point for recruiters in search of excellent students, faculty members and administrators. Technology is a morale booster for employees, too, says IT Vice President Susan J. Foster. "Access to the Internet opens up new worlds for everyone on campus," she adds. "Electronic resources bring us closer together, enhancing our ability to communicate more effectively with each other and with off-campus colleagues located anywhere in the world."
Unrestricted gifts to the University's Annual Giving Campaign can support improved technology and other enhancements to the living and learning environment. Annual giving topped $2.6 million for F.Y. 1996.
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