Lipscomb’s Swang Business Center is getting a face lift including the addition of the BAYMAR Telepresence Center and renovations to classrooms, which have not been updated since their construction in 1984.
Three first-floor classrooms will be given new paint, carpet and furniture with the front lecture hall being converted for the Cisco Telepresence System. The circular classroom was converted from a tiered room to a single floor and enclosed with a glass wall looking into the lobby.
The system will allow students, clients, and guest speakers outside of the classroom to communicate and contribute to the class while watching a real-time video feed using an app on their tablets or phones.
“On the graduate side, people want our degrees but can’t drive here one night a week, and they just can’t physically get here,” said Ray Eldridge, Interim Dean of the College of Business.
“Now they can be here. I think that really allows Lipscomb to go beyond it’s boundaries.”
The Telepresence System will include three plasma screens and cameras at the front of the room with up to 48 different locations that can be fed in to the classroom. This will allow students seeking a graduate business degree that live outside of driving range from the campus or the Spark facility in Cool Springs to take classes more involved than online.
“We can also have guest speakers, so now we can have a CEO in New York who doesn’t have time to come down here,” Eldridge said. “All we have to do is give him an app for his iPad and he can talk directly to our class from his office.”
Additional renovations will include moving the elevator from the center of the lobby to the side of the building to open up the floor. The supporting columns have been squared-off, adding to the more modern look of the lobby.
This summer’s renovations, totaling $1.3 million, were the second phase of a three part process that began last summer with the renovation of Stowe Hall to create a technical space for the College of Computing and Technology, which was previously located in on-campus trailers.
Though not part of the three-phase renovation plan, the Financial Trading Lab on the second floor is being remodeled. New furniture consisting of five pods equipped with Apple TVs will be replacing the tables and 20 outdated computers that previous occupied the room. Students will be able to face the front of the classroom while the teacher is speaking while also having control of their own screens for group work.
“One thing we’re creating is this team-based learning,” Eldridge said. “That’s the way we do things in business, it’s all team-based.”
The third and final phase of the renovations, which will be the updating of the second floor, will likely begin next year.
