Friday October 26, 2001

New center to open next semester without many technological advancements

The ILC - a $20 million underground computer and classroom center for first- and second-year students - will be dedicated today, but the facility will not be the high-tech marvel officials once envisioned.

State-mandated budget cuts, which will slice $13.8 million or more from the University of Arizona's 2002 fiscal year budget, threatened to delay the opening. However, officials settled speculation earlier this month by announcing that the Integrated Learning Center will open in January, but with less technology and staff.

Still, the sacrifice is a large one for those involved with the high-tech learning center since its conception in the early 1990s.

"It looks like because of the budget cuts we have had to make some changes in our plan," said Janet Fore, head of the undergraduate services team. "It's not quite everything we had hoped for opening day, but we are still committed to getting there."

The ILC's information commons, which will host 250 computers for all students to access, will open in January along with the center's lecture halls and classrooms.

But the media center - the heart of the ILC that would have allowed teachers to store information from classes through use of high-tech equipment - and a section of the building with 40 high-level software computers will not open for another year or more, said Lynn Tronsdal, vice president for undergraduate administration

"It will be a different facility when all the technology is in place. But for now, students won't know what they are missing. The center is still state-of-art." - Lynn Tronsdal, VP undergraduate administration

She said the price of the technology for the entire facility, once fully completed, will be $10 million.

"The question was whether the facility was going to open on time," she said. "We won't have the technology we planned. That will happen next year or the year after."

When the ILC opens for general education classes in January, students will be introduced to large lecture halls and classrooms with the same technology as any renovated building on campus, Tronsdal said.

"It will be a different facility when all the technology is in place," she said. "But for now, students won't know what they are missing. The center is still state-of-art."

UA officials planned 30 additional staff positions for the ILC, but the cutbacks will allow for the hiring of only eight employees.

All of these changes put a dent in the daily functions of the ILC, but officials agree that the sacrifices are just another hiccup in the center's history that they hope to overcome with time.

Yesterday, the chain-link fences - which surrounded and secluded the facility since construction was completed over the summer - came down from around the entrances to the center.

"We're celebrating in a tough budget time when there are a lot of larger problems," said Carla Stoffle, dean of libraries. "But we're celebrating students and the commitment to students, and that's always something to celebrate."

On Nov. 17, the Freshman Year Center, general advising and tutoring will begin operation in the center.

The Arizona Board of Regents approved the construction of the ILC in 1996, and ground was broken for the project in fall 1999.

The idea was conceived in the early '90s after officials realized freshman retention rates were relatively low. At that point, they decided to revamp the entire general education system.

"The plan was to help the student transition," Tronsdal said. "The ILC is meant to integrate the students into the community, technology into the curriculum and the disciplines into the curriculum."

The goal to integrate technology into general education met some challenges, particularly from the construction of the ILC, which closed part of the UA Mall from student access from fall 1999 until this semester.

Stoffle said the center will be successful only if officials carry out the long-term plan of the facility.

"I think there is a commitment to make it what we envisioned," she said. "But if the tone changes to 'what you have is what you get,' that would be a shame because it has the potential to be a great facility.

"The project may prove to be positive, but if it never comes about, then it will be a disappointment."

The ILC dedication takes place today at 9:30 a.m. in its courtyard.