New building to house UPR, broadcast lectures
Plans are underway to build a new state-of-the-art distance education facility on campus, a hub for professors to broadcast their classes to campuses throughout the state.
Ben Berrett, director of planning, design and construction, said initial plans for the 38,700 square-foot building began about five months ago and are progressing nicely.
“We plan on breaking ground early spring next year,” Berrett said. “Probably around March or April, and there should be about a year of construction.” The completion date in spring of 2012 is still tentative, though, due to weather conditions and contractors, he said. There will also be additional time required once the building is completed to move in the electronics needed for housing distance education.
Berret said the building will be located where the old dome-shaped Quonset hut is now, on the corner of 700 North and 1200 East, across from Aggie Ice Cream. The building will be 2-3 stories with 8-12 classrooms.
“All of the classrooms will be set up for what is called an origination classroom,” he said. “That means the professor will be in Logan and it will be broadcasted out across the state.”
Berret also said the building will be used to house Utah Public Radio and the Utah Education Network, as well as facilities to educate faculty on campus technology and a testing center for students.
Ronda Menlove, vice provost of regional campuses and distance education, called the broadcasting classrooms “smart classrooms.”
“Logan students will come and be linked to classrooms all over the state,” she said. “Most of the classes will be at night, but some of them will be during the day.”
According to the most recent Regional Campuses and Distance Education annual report, enrollment in online and distance classes has nearly doubled from what it was 10 years ago. Additionally, the total enrollment in regional and distance classes is now slightly higher, at 17,345 students, than enrollment at the Logan campus, which hosts 17,199 students. Menlove said the new facilities will help the university accommodate the growing demand for such classes.
“It’s a building for the future,” she said. “We’re growing, so even though we already have 30 smart classrooms here on campus, we don’t think that’s enough.” This is part of a larger vision she said that USU President Stan Albrecht and the provost have to make every classroom a smart classroom.
The recent growth, Menlove said, can be traced to recent economic conditions.
“It’s growing across the state because you have a down economy,” she said. “When that happens people go back to school.”
Menlove said distance education is opening up new opportunities because of the economic advantages it provides.
“People haven’t had this opportunity before,” she said. “If you live in Green River there’s no way you could drive to the university. Previously if you were an adult and you wanted to go back to school you had to quit your job and move your family. This way it comes to you.”
Younger students are also reaping the economic benefits these new smart classes and online education bring. The annual report showed that the vast majority of students are undergraduates, and the largest age group is students 18-25 years old. According to Menlove, the average age has dropped from 35 to 31.
“There are lots of kids that can’t afford to come to school anymore because it’s so expensive,” she said. “But if they stay home and take classes, the only cost they have is tuition and books.”
It also works to bring degrees to people that can’t be obtained anywhere else in the state.
“People along the Wasatch front have a lot of opportunities,” Menlove said. “We offer programs there that they can’t get anywhere else. Natural resource and agricultural degrees, nobody offers those but Utah State.”
While these programs are saving money for the students, they aren’t free for the school. Menlove said the new building will cost roughly $10-12 million and is being funded primarily by student tuition. Total operating expenses for distance education for 2008-09 was more than $28.6 million, according to the annual report.
– mike.burnham@aggiemail.usu.edu