| Groundbreakers: Parking enhancement projects
get under way |
 |
|
niversity faculty, staff, and students will soon get a much needed
shot in the arm, in the form of more than 1,100 new parking spaces,
when three major parking construction projects are completed in
August. Groundbreaking on the new four-floor, 561-space Pavia
Garage began in March. The new garage, which is being built opposite
the Daystar Health Center on the site of the existing 198-space
Student Service Center Lot, will include a “Day Pass”
machine for one- through five-day pass holders and an information
booth at the entrance. It also will be equipped with two blue
light emergency telephones on each floor, and a roving guard from
the Department of Public Safety will provide 24-hour security.
“Work is being done during the last weeks
of the current semester to keep construction as unobtrusive as
possible and to ensure completion by the beginning of the fall
semester,” says Charles McConnell, director of Parking and
Transportation.
While almost 200 spaces at the Student Services
Center Lot will be lost during the Pavia construction, the loss
is being offset by the creation of temporary “Green Space”
lots, which have added some 214 spaces for holders of current
commuter student and faculty/employee permits.
These “Green Space” lots are located
behind the Lowe Art Museum (120 spaces), adjacent to the Behavioral
Sciences Building (50 spaces), and across from the Whitten University
Center (44 spaces). According to McConnell, additional parking
spaces are available in the City of Coral Gables’ municipal
lot 42, located on Ponce de Leon Boulevard across from the Ponce
Garage. A special express shuttle runs from Stanford Circle to
this lot.
Meanwhile, a second major construction project,
which will add two floors and 424 spaces to the Ponce Garage,
is scheduled to begin May 3. When work is completed, the Ponce
Garage will offer 1,052 spaces.
During the Ponce construction phase, some 628
parking spaces will be lost. However, commuter student and faculty/employee
permit holders will be accommodated with alternate parking at
Coral Gables municipal lots 42 and 43, located on Ponce de Leon
Boulevard adjacent to Metrorail and across the street from the
Ponce Garage. Scodella, Liguria, Albenga, and Red Road North and
South Lots also will be available.
The hub of the shuttle service will relocate
from the Ponce Garage to the Metro North Lot adjacent to Metrorail
and Ponce de Leon Boulevard. When the spring semester ends, the
shuttle service will operate its normal summer schedule and routes,
excluding the Ponce Garage, says McConnell.
Construction on a new Mahoney/ Pearson garage
begins May 11, and when completed, the new facility will offer
636 spaces, up from the current 307. All of the construction projects
are scheduled for completion before the start of the fall semester.
“These new garages will improve parking on the core of the
Coral Gables campus for faculty, staff, and students,” says
McConnell.
McConnell says the new garages also are an indication
of Parking and Transportation’s dedication to improving facilities
and services for the University community. Ongoing parking lot
maintenance, the installation of shuttle bus shelters, shuttle
service to the Shops at Sunset Place, satellite sales of parking
permits, and the extension of Hurry ’Canes shuttle service
are just a few of the improvements the department has made over
the last year.
Back to top
|
|
 |
|
|
Digital Media Lab helps professors enhance
their teaching methods
|
|
|
hile blackboards, chalk, and paper may still be the preferred
tools used in college classrooms, these “old-school”
materials are beginning to find a regular seat on the bench, replaced
by newer, high-tech gadgets such as digital video discs and Internet-ready
computers that bring a fresh new perspective to learning.
More and more University of Miami professors
are using streaming video technology and PowerPoint presentations
in their classroom instruction, and the new Digital Media Lab
at the Otto G. Richter Library is helping them to do it.
The lab, which opened in February and is located
on the library’s third floor, helps professors explore and
enhance their research and teaching methods through digitized
audio and video technology. Media equipment, software, computers,
and user assistance are all at their disposal, and students and
staff can also take advantage of the lab’s facilities.
“Classes taught online, students accessing
their homework assignments through their computers, PowerPoint
presentations with video embedded in them—those are just
a few of the applications,” says Fabian Rodriguez, digital
media projects manager at the lab.
The lab was created in response to an increase
in classroom use of digital media content, says Rodriguez. In
the few weeks that it has been open, professors from many academic
schools and colleges have visited the facility, using its resources
and technical assistance for a variety of projects, ranging from
Web site design and DVD production to animation, photo design,
and video editing.
The lab is open Tuesday through Friday
from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Services are available by appointment
only. Visit http://digital.library.miami.edu/medialab
to learn more or to arrange a tour.
Back to top
|
|
|
|
|
| New Faculty Club to offer lakeside views,
central location |
|
|
hen the new Faculty Club opens this August, University faculty
will immediately notice two advantages that the new dining facility
offers over the old one: lakeside views, and, best of all, a central
location in the heart of the Coral Gables campus.
Construction on the new Faculty Club is scheduled
to start soon after the conclusion of the 2002 commencement ceremonies.
Scheduled for completion before the start of the fall semester,
it will be located on the Hurricane Food Court overlooking Lake
Osceola.
It will seat 58 guests, operate from August
through May, and serve a daily lunch buffet featuring a variety
of entrees, pastas, and vegetables. The new club also will be
available for catered University events.
The club’s central location, however, will
arguably be its greatest asset, says Alan Fish, associate vice
president for Business Services. “The existing Faculty Club
is located on the perimeter of campus, and those faculty who work
in the core of the campus have to either take the shuttle bus
or drive there,” says Fish. “But because this new facility
will be centrally located, faculty and staff will be able to just
walk there.”
The club will occupy 1,500 square feet of the
Hurricane Food Court but will not decrease dining options for
the hundreds of students who eat there daily. A new student eatery,
the StormSurge Café, recently opened in the University
Center, adding “significant seating and dining options for
students,” says Fish. The café features a computer
room with Internet access, pool tables, and several televisions.
Also, more tables have been added to the existing food court,
says Fish.
The original Faculty Club, which seats 366,
will be used exclusively for University and community catering
events.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
