This week, Ohio University opened its new Academic Engagement Center, located at 29 Park Place, for OU honors students.
The renovated presidential house will provide ample space for students to study and engage with the community as well as house the Ohio Fellows and Ohio Honors Program, or OHP, advising. Center for Campus and Community Engagement, or CCCE, personnel and the Cutler Scholars office will occupy the Carriage House.
The university first began speculating on the potential renovation of the building in 2017. The idea was part of a plan to enhance Park Place as an engagement corridor connecting Alden Library and Baker University Center.
After OU community members submitted ideas for the space, the Academic Engagement Center idea was finalized and then approved by the OU Board of Trustees in 2018. Though initially approved at a cost of $2.3 million, the project was amended to be about $3.5 million in 2019, Shawna Bolin, associate vice president for university planning, said.
The new study space is modeled as an extension of the common room space available to students in the Honors Tutorial College, or HTC, building located next door, which was not open last year due to the pandemic.
“Being able to swing by with your cup of coffee and find a place to sit and hang out with friends and engage in some really cool conversations is a really big goal for how this directly impacts honors on campus,” Breanne Sisler, assistant dean of the Honors Tutorial College, said.
In an effort to regulate capacity due to the coronavirus pandemic, the expanded space is available by reservation only for students who are members of an Ohio honors program. In the future, Sisler said the university plans to have the space open for all community members on campus to meet and engage.
“It’s a center for advancement, but also a place to bring people together such as parents and future students, faculty, students, community leaders, and everyone in between,” the university said in a news release.
In addition to the common spaces, the center includes classroom and conference rooms equipped with state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment to facilitate international interaction, even as classes return to in person, Sisler said. The classroom spaces will be used this semester with a freshmen tutorial class and Ohio Fellows meeting.
The second floor of the building houses offices for OHP advisors as well as an office for rotating mental health counselors available to HTC students through the OU psychology clinic.
The third floor academic space is available exclusively to Cutler scholars and includes a common area as well as extra space that students can reserve for meetings or individual study. Cutler scholars are also able to swipe into the building after-hours to use the third floor.
“Through this center … we plan to better engage with students and the community on how to support their academic success and supply them with the resources to progress academically,” Donal Skinner, dean of the HTC, said in a university news release.
While the center offers numerous academic resources and advising, Sisler emphasized a large component of its purpose is to facilitate community interaction and connection.
“The University is making a powerful gesture in demonstrating the value our institution places in having spaces dedicated for engagement. Community and business partners, alumni, staff and faculty, and current students will enjoy and benefit from this multi-use space that fosters networking and collaboration,” Mary Nally, director of the CCCE, said in a university news release. “Further, the CCCE is pleased this location will increase accessibility and visibility of the engagement ecosystem and experiential learning at OHIO."
