Lerner Additions Promote 21st Century Skills
OUR UD | A focus on student-centered learning driven by interactive technology informed the design of two construction projects for the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics. Both the newly opened One South Main Street Graduate Hub and a 9,900 square-foot expansion to Purnell Hall were designed to promote the development of 21st century skills like digital knowhow and teamwork essential for on-the-job success.
“This [Purnell] expansion more than doubles the space previously available for the JPMorgan Chase Innovation Center, home to a partnership between the Lerner College, the College of Engineering and JPMorgan Chase,” said Lerner College Dean Bruce Weber.
The high-tech Center provides on-campus job opportunities for students and enables research collaboration among students, faculty and JPMorgan Chase employees. It has also changed the way technologists are trained through the Lerner College’s Global Enterprise Technology minor and curriculum.
In the new Purnell Hall students will experience: the first ever Virtual Lab at UD, providing anytime, anywhere access to business applications; updated technology in the Lerner College Trading Center, computer labs and technology classrooms; and new faculty offices, graduate student workspaces and conference rooms throughout the building.
The Lerner College has also opened One South Main Street, the new home of Lerner’s Graduate and MBA Programs, known informally as the “Lerner Grad Hub.”
The building serves as a center of activity and resources with a professional and modern vibe, offering graduate students reconfigurable classrooms that use the latest in content-sharing technology to promote teamwork and discussion. The Grad Hub also includes six high-tech student collaboration rooms to facilitategroup work, as well as comfortable study spaces throughout the building.
“These renovations and additions help ensure our students stay at the technologic forefront,” added Weber.
Article by Deborah Blanchard and Sunny Rosen, AS14
