APRIL 23, 2021 — UTSA has launched the Pilot Classroom Project, an initiative created to enhance student learning with new classroom furniture and academic technology that will pave the way for future classroom improvements.
Initiated by Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Kimberly Andrews Espy and Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for Business Affairs Veronica Salazar Mendez, this project includes the renovation of six interior classrooms and the addition of four outdoor classrooms.
Paul Goodman, associate vice president for facilities, said that with the support of university leadership and many departments, the Office of Facilities is gaining critical knowledge regarding the cost and timing needed to assist with future classroom upgrades.
Left: An Office of Facilities team prepares classroom BB 2.01.14 in the Business Building for upcoming upgrades.
Below, left: The project includes a vast amount of outdoor and indoor classroom selections.
“Many of our classrooms have outdated and insufficient furniture and technology to support today’s teaching needs,” said Goodman. “This pilot project brings together staff from [the offices of] Facilities, Academic Innovation and Space Management to plan strategic classroom improvements.”
In early March the facilities team began renovating six indoor classrooms in the Business and Multidisciplinary Studies buildings. Facilities’ primary focus is to update academic technology and furniture to support various levels and styles of student learning. Classroom renovations will also include new flooring, paint, glass marker boards, electrical power and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements for accessibility.
Construction of four new outdoor classrooms begins soon and will be located on the northeast corner of the Flawn Sciences Building and south of the Student Union. Project sneak peeks will be available through facilities’ social media accounts.
Benjamin Perry, university architect, said he is happy about the upcoming classroom transformations. “This project will help facilities serve students in an unprecedented way. Whether it be an indoor or outdoor classroom setting, the facilities team is prepared to respond to our students’ needs in today’s digital-shifting environment.”
One of Perry’s goals is to ensure students and faculty are comfortable in the classrooms. To achieve that goal, he and his team established a furniture classroom survey that allows students, faculty and staff to try indoor and outdoor classroom furniture and to vote on their favorites. Perry and his team are confident the survey will help guide them to select new modern and comfortable furniture.
In the coming months, facilities staff will work to complete the project prior to the start of the fall semester.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Come celebrate the doctoral students graduating this commencement season.
H-E-B Student Union Ballrooms, UTSA Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203Celebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203First Friday Stargazing gives anyone free access to the night sky using university telescopes and teaching equipment. Weather permitting, experienced astronomers will provide a handful of telescopes of varying designs, give training on how each operates, and point to various astronomical objects that may appear in the sky for that given time of the year. If you have a telescope and do not know how to operate it, feel free to bring it and get instructions on its use.
4th Floor of Flawn Science Building, Main CampusThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
