By
Daniel Scarpinato
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Visitors can now tour the underground facility
Construction on the Integrated Learning Center, which has been underway for more than a year, is in its final stages and should be completed by June 1.
Lynn Tronsdal, vice president of undergraduate administration, said a 30-day "punch list" will be conducted by the university to check the building and make sure the structure is ready for use.
After that, installation of equipment, beginning in mid-June, will continue into the fall semester.
Some undergraduate classes may be held on an occasional basis in the ILC during the fall semester to test out the new equipment, but no classes will be permanently scheduled inside the facility until January 2002, Tronsdal said.
Much of the equipment installed will be similar to the Elmo display screen and video projection units currently installed in most UA classroom and lecture halls.
In addition, the classrooms will also have electronic white boards for instructors to save the notes they have written during class. Wireless audience-response systems will be installed that will allow students to respond to questions that the instructor directs toward the class.
Janet Fore, head of the undergraduate technology services team at the UA library, said that because of the amount of technology in the classrooms, instructors will be required to take a workshop in order to become acquainted with the system.
"We're interested in finding instructors who will welcome everything the ILC has to offer," Fore said. "We want to maximize the possibilities of this environment."
Instructors can apply on the ILC's Web site to have their class held in the center. Courses held in the center must fall into the categories of Tier I, Tier II or foundation and freshman colloquial classes.
Fore said that, because of this, the myth that the ILC will only be an advantage to freshman is false.
"Potentially all students could take advantage of the classrooms," she said. "Some students don't complete their general-education courses until their senior year."
All students will able to use the information commons area when the entire center is up and running in January.
The information commons, a 30,000-square foot computer area, will have 250 multi-purpose work tables and will serve as an underground passageway between the Main Library and the ILC.
"The information commons is literally (the library's) new front door and reference desk," Fore explained.
The work tables will each have desktop computers, laptop hook-ups and wireless laptop technology that will allow users to use the center's resources without necessarily staying in the area.
The Freshman Year Center and advising staff, currently located in Bear Down Gymnasium, will be re-locating into the ILC. Major exploration advisors, computers for students to access their academic information and tutoring services will be available as well.
Tutoring services, which will be held in the evenings, will be available in August, but the remainder of the Freshman Year Center will not begin moving into the ILC until December, with an opening date of January 7.
Because the ILC was built from west to east, with the eastern portion serving as access for construction vehicles, the west side of the facility is mostly complete, Fore said.
North Cherry Avenue, which has been closed off since construction began in fall 1999, will re-open on May 15. Trees will be moved in the first week of May, and grass should be re-seeded on the Mall by the June 1 completion date.
Once completed, the 119,032-square foot ILC will accommodate more than 1,000 students in its classrooms and lecture halls alone.
Anyone who is interested in visiting the facility can sign up for a tour on the ILC's Web site, at www.ilc.arizona.edu.
