Plans Unveiled for Ambitious Campus Center Project University President Rev
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February 2006 Volume XVIII Number 3 Plans Unveiled for Ambitious Campus Center Project University President Rev. Scott R. 253 part-time faculty and staff. Pilarz, S.J., announced at a Jan. 31 news “This is a tremendous addition in conference the largest and most ambitious the Mulberry corridor,” said Scranton capital expansion in the 118-year history Mayor Chris Doherty. “It’s just part of of the Jesuit university, a $30,000,000 the university’s continuing commitment new campus center that will transform the to Scranton.” heart of the campus. According to Vincent Carilli, Ph.D., Pending approval from the Scranton Vice President for Student Affairs, the and Lackawanna County planning com- new campus center is designed to address missions, the roughly 118,000 square the Gunster Center’s limitations in dining foot, four-story building will be located and meeting spaces. along Mulberry Street in the rear of “With the help of our architects and the existing Gunster Memorial Student the benefit of scores of visits to other Center and Weinberg Memorial Library. campuses, we have developed an exciting Construction is expected to begin in the design that addresses our serious need for late spring of 2006 with an anticipated increased dining areas and student gath- completion in the fall of 2007. ering spaces, while consolidating many Once construction of the new build- important functions that are now spread ing is complete, the existing Gunster throughout the campus,” Dr. Carilli said. Center will be taken down to create a The first floor of the building includes a grand lobby, campus book- campus green in its place that is nearly Scranton’s new 118,000 square-foot campus center, as seen from The store, retail dining with seating for 250, a the size of a football field. Commons, will include a nearly football-field sized green space, which will be student mail center and coffee shop. “Among the hallmarks of The created at the heart of campus. Construction of the project is expected to begin (continued on pg. 2) University of Scranton is our extraordi- in the late spring of 2006, with an anticipated completion in the fall of 2007. nary sense of community, an essential element that sets us apart from many col- leges,” said Fr. Pilarz. “We intentionally Pride, Passion, Promise: Shaping our Jesuit Tradition { The Strategic Plan in Action } refer to the new building as a ‘campus’ center, since it will encourage interaction Scranton Becomes NEPA Connection for Internet2 among students, faculty and staff at the When it comes to the information same time that it serves as a crossroads for Connie Wisdo, superhighway, all roads in northeastern the broader Scranton community.” Director of Pennsylvania lead to The University of In the announcement, Father Pilarz Technology Scranton - all Internet2 roads, that is. referenced the dramatic growth and devel- Development Scranton announced at a news confer- opment of the university since the Gunster and Innovation, ence on Dec. 15 that it has been selected Center was dedicated in 1960. demonstrates the by the University of Pennsylvania to serve “Over the past four decades, Scranton speed and quality as the regional hub for the nation’s new has evolved into a broadly regional, com- of Internet2 high-speed Internet. The University will prehensive institution with students com- during a news be the area aggregator for Internet2 con- ing from more than 30 states and more conference on nections for colleges and universities, pri- than 35 countries,” Father Pilarz added. Dec. 15. “The university has simply outgrown the mary and secondary schools, NEIU units, 77,000 square foot Gunster Center, which libraries, museums, hospitals and research was built for a time when only 228 of our corporation partners in Lackawanna, According Greg Palmer, Executive that commit to extend new technologies, total student enrollment of 2,300 lived on Luzerne, Wayne, Pike, Wyoming, Sullivan, Director of Mid-Atlantic GigaPoP in applications, middleware and content to campus.” Susquehanna and Bradford counties. Philadelphia for Internet2 (MAGPI) all education sectors, not for the general The University of Scranton student “This is an incredible opportunity at The University of Pennsylvania, the or commercial business. Corporations enrollment for the fall of 2005 is 4,846, to connect northeast Pennsylvania’s uni- primary goals of Internet2 are to create could only gain access to the high speed of which 2,075 are resident students. The versities, educators and researchers to the leading-edge network capability for the network by partnering in research initia- University also employs 832 full-time and potential presented by the next genera- national research community; to enable tives with participating U.S. universities. tion of the Internet,” said Jerry DeSanto, revolutionary Internet applications; “In our role as aggregator, Scranton Vice President for Planning and Chief and to ensure the rapid transfer of new will provide organizations in eight coun- In this Issue Information Officer at Scranton. network services and applications to the ties with connection to Internet2 and broader Internet community. Intenet2 Catholic, Jesuit Heritage Internet2 is a consortium led by its revolutionary applications in such Being Celebrated . pg. 3 more than 200 universities working with is recreating the partnership among aca- areas as remote instrumentation control, government researchers and industry demia, industry and government that international distance learning and bio- Black History Month Events . pg. 4 partners to develop high-quality, high cultivated today’s Internet in its infancy. medical uses of information technology Dean’s List . pgs. 6-8 speed uses for the next phase of the Internet2 is exclusively for member and advanced research computing,” said Athletics . pg. 10 internet. The goal of Internet2 is not to institutions and innovators from primary Connie Wisdo,Director of Technology replace the current Internet, but rather to and secondary schools, colleges and uni- Development and Innovation. Calendar . pg. 11 develop technology to enhance it. versities, hospitals, libraries and museums (continued on page 2) Page 2 The Scranton Record, February 2006 Scranton Becomes NEPA Hispanic Education Efforts Nationally Recognized Plans Unveiled for Ambitious Campus Center Project Connection for Internet2 Scranton is one of only 16 universi- sored by the University, the Scranton (continued from pg. 1) ties in Pennsylvania recognized by The School District and the Employment (continued from pg. 1) At the news conference the University Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education for Opportunity Training Center. demonstrated the primary benefits “doing a commendable job of recruit- The Leahy Community Health and of Intenet2 - the speed and quality of the ing, retaining, educating and graduating Family Center also sponsors health fairs for connection and the international connec- Hispanic students.” the area’s Hispanic/Latino population. The tivity. Internet2 is connected to more than A total of 552 colleges and universi- fairs include health care information, free 45 research and education networks across ties in the United States and Puerto Rico health screenings and other initiatives to the globe. Internet2 operates over an made the magazine’s “Publisher’s Picks” promote health awareness, prevention and exclusive 10 gigabit fiber network across list of institutions recognized for their education concerning health threats preva- the country and offers faster speeds than diversity efforts. The list was published lent in the Hispanic/Latino population. the current Internet connections because in the November 21 issue of Hispanic Scranton also participates in numer- of the wider bandwidth and lower traffic. Outlook. ous faculty and student exchanges The Internet2 demonstration This is the eighth consecutive year through formal agreements with Latin included a live, joint graduation ceremony that Scranton has made the list that high- American universities. between The University of Scranton and lights colleges and universities that have Viewing plans for the new campus Universidad Iberoamericana, its sister Jesuit been successful in attracting and educat- Scranton Named Among center, from left: Vincent Carilli, university in Mexico City. At the virtual ing Hispanic students. This is the tenth America’s Hottest Colleges Vice President for Student Affairs; joint-commencement ceremony, Eloisa Lara year that the magazine has published its University President Rev. Scott R. became the first recipient of a collaborative list. Scranton has been selected as one of Pilarz, S.J.; Scranton Mayor Chris master’s/dual degree program in commu- “We have seen enrollment of the 367 schools profiled in the 2006 edi- Doherty; and Patrick Leahy, Interim nity counseling between the two schools. Hispanic students increase for five consec- tion of the Kaplan/Newsweek guide to Vice President for Institutional Scranton demonstrated the capabilities utive years,” said Joseph Roback, Director America’s Hottest Colleges. Advancement and Executive of Internet2 for the region’s education and of Admissions. “Currently, 205 Hispanic The guidebook combines Newsweek’s Assistant to the President. health care organizations on Jan. 19. Some students are enrolled at the University, journalistic expertise with Kaplan’s 67 current Internet2 applications that were which is a 17 percent increase over last years of college admission experience. The second floor offers a fireplace previewed