There's No Place Like Home

The new Heaslip House at Ryerson University

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Johns Hopkins University

Ryerson University

University of Southern Maine

New Buildings Facilitate Faculty and Student Connections

From the July/August 2006 Issue of InFocus

Cultivating a sense of place can be challenging for a CE unit when administrative offices and classrooms are scattered, as often happens. For some institutions, constructing a cohesive physical space is the answer. Whether revamping an existing structure or breaking new ground, institutions are creating beautiful state-of-the-art buildings for continuing education.

Prior to December 2005, activities at The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education were spread among five different locations on Ryerson University's downtown Toronto campus. As enrollments increased, the School needed a place that could better serve its students' needs. Nine months ago, Ryerson's CE unit moved into an enlarged and renovated Heaslip House.

Ryerson's Heaslip House

Marilynn Booth, Director of University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies, served as Dean of the Chang School for more than 12 years and oversaw the Heaslip House project. "We envisioned an open, accessible place," says Booth. "We wanted it so that anyone who was interested in continuing learning could find the support and resources they needed, be they students or instructors."

The Chang School has space for academic advisors to work confidentially with students, meeting space for occasional lectures or conferences, and administrative offices for instructors, program directors, and student services, as well as space for curricular development of online learning. Through contributions to the building by the students' association, the main floor of the Heaslip House includes the Student Life Center.

"This is a place where students are able to see themselves reflected in the space," says Anita Shilton, Dean of The Chang School. "The building is respectful of working people who learn at the end of long days," she explains.

"The fact that there is a home for lifelong learning in this University is an important statement of The Chang School's mission at Ryerson," continues Shilton. Booth concurs: "The administration was committed to making sure CE students were seen as 'real' students," she says. "Heaslip House is a symbol that continuing education is not on the margins."

Hopkins' Space for Aspiring Teachers

For the first time, the Graduate Division of Education at the Johns Hopkins School of Professional Studies in Business and Education (SPSBE), has a place to call home. The Johns Hopkins Education Building, which was formerly an all-girls high school acquired by the University in 2003, now houses all of the Baltimore-based faculty and administrative offices, as well as classrooms for that division. The school was renovated to include contemporary educational tools while retaining the integrity and beauty of the one-hundred-year-old building. Open since March 2006, the structure is a unique blend of old and new-designers retained the architecture of the original building while creating 15 dedicated classrooms and lecture halls with ceiling mounted projectors, wireless lounge areas, computer labs, and dining areas. The design was carefully thought out to address specific needs of the CE students.

"We purposely tried to set up student areas that would be useful and comfortable," says Chris Atkins Godack, Assistant Dean for External Affairs at SPSBE. "Many students are teaching during the day and come to class at night right after work. We tried to be respectful of that." Godack believes the new space is more than just convenient; it fosters camaraderie and an opportunity for discussion and interaction. "What was most important was for the facility to serve as a base. We wanted to build a community for the students. Before we had this building, we had classes all over the campus-some of the students in the same programs never saw each other. Now, being all in one building, it gives them a better sense of who they are as future teachers and educators, and gives them a sense of community."

Connecting to Community

According to Stacy Calderwood, Director of the University of Southern Maine's Center for Continuing Education, an important benefit of their new Abromson Community Education Center is that it connects the University and the community at-large. "Many people in the area do not have interaction with the University unless their child goes to school here. The Center brings them in," she explains.

The Abromson Center is home to three of the Division's 10 units, which include the Center for Continuing Education, the Department of Conferences, and the Institute for Family-Owned Business. The $25 million complex features six classrooms, a conference room, and a computer classroom. Rooms are designed to also serve as meeting spaces. In addition, the Center houses a 520-seat lecture hall. Businesses are encouraged to use the spaces to host events. "The opening of the Abromson Community Education Center illustrates the depth of USM's commitment to serving the community," says Robert Hansen, executive director of the division. "The Abromson Center is a means to help us fulfill our goal of achieving regional excellence by bringing quality programs to the southern Maine community."

—Kandace Gilligan