Ceremony Opens SU's New Teacher Education and Technology Center

SALISBURY, MD---Before a festive audience of educators and dignitaries, children from the community, and campus students, faculty and administration, Salisbury University celebrated the grand opening of its $65 million Teacher Education and Technology Center (TETC) on Thursday, September 4.  At 165,000 square feet, the TETC is the largest building in SU history.

“The Teacher Education and Technology Center is exceeding all expectations. The facility has beautifully added to the appearance of our campus, and it will enable faculty to launch exhilarating innovations in teaching and learning,” said SU President Janet Dudley-Eshbach. “Opening up a new world of digital creativity for University students, the TETC offers possibilities for collaboration and intellectual exploration that are cutting-edge and reflect dynamic changes happening in our world. The facility will impact the ways children are taught in schools and further advance the University’s reputation as a center for excellence in teacher preparation. The TETC will attract even more of Maryland’s most promising students to campus and usher in a new era at Salisbury University.”

“The TETC marries teacher education and technology in fundamental ways that will have dramatic impacts on how children are taught in our schools,” said Dr. Dennis Pataniczek, dean of the Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies.

“I’ve been to education schools all over the country, in fact, all over the world, and I’ve never seen one like this,” said Dr. Virginia Pilato of the Maryland State Department of Education.

The TETC is home to the Seidel School’s Teacher Education, Education Specialties and Social Work departments; faculty in the Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts’ Art, Music and Communication Arts departments; and a wing devoted to technology.

Previously, the Seidel School was housed in Caruthers Hall, a former elementary school one-third of the size of the TETC.  The Seidel School partners with 33 Professional Development Schools on the Eastern Shore and the TETC will increase Seidel’s capacity to educate more teachers.  SU is the third largest producer of teachers in the state and for the past two years has produced more Teachers of the Year (11 total) in Maryland counties than any other institution.  Three of the past five Maryland Teachers of the Year have SU ties.  Maryland’s Professor of the Year is also a member of the Seidel faculty.

Distinctive features in the TETC include new homes for the May Literacy Lab, offering after-school tutoring and reading programs, and the Instructional Resource Center (IRC), with The Carol and Jim Powers Reading Room. The IRC provides teaching materials and books in the increasingly popular field of children’s literature, including the Eastern Shore Children’s Literature Collection.   The IRC will also house the Eastern Shore Writing Project, a federal program in which SU is one of 200 participating campuses nationwide.

Three distance learning rooms offer the Social Work Department the latest technology for its students at Wye Mills, North East and Hagerstown, MD. This system has made the Social Work programs available in parts of Maryland where there was no access before. These rooms also provide distance learning opportunities for SU’s Respiratory Therapy and Nursing programs.

“The teaching methods labs, particularly in science and mathematics, are so appealing that I think they will attract even more potential teachers to these in-demand fields,” said Pataniczek.
All of the Seidel School teaching methods classrooms have Interactive Boards, which are increasingly used in K-12 classrooms. Integrating computer power, teaching software and projection technology, they allow students and teachers to manipulate virtual objects from maps to texts.

The TETC is expected to open up a new world of digital creativity for University students across campus.  Thirty-eight additional technology-rich teaching spaces including eight computer labs add 200 new computer seats to campus. Fulton School faculty will teach with state-of-the-art equipment in a new and innovative Integrated Media Center (IMC).  The  18,500- square-foot IMC may be the most technologically advanced facility of its kind at any Maryland higher education institution, said Chief Information Officer Jerry Waldron.

Its 3,000-square-foot high-definition digital video production studio is one of the few on a university campus nationwide.  An audio recording studio with the capability of 24-track recordings is believed to be the only one on the Eastern Shore and one of the few in Maryland, he added.  Supporting them are 15 video editing suites and five audio editing suites. A cutting-edge electronic media and exhibition gallery includes plasma screens.

One aspect guiding the design of the building is space for collaborative creative teamwork, reflective of the professional environment that students will find after graduation.  An important outcome from the TETC’s technological advances is that students in education and the creative arts will graduate with the hard skills that will make them marketable and successful in the digital age.

“I know that our teacher candidates and all of our SU students come to the university today with a higher degree of skill in technology,” said Pataniczek. “The TETC will allow us to meet them where they are and to take them to new heights. These new resources have the potential of changing teaching for our region, attracting new faces with new visions for the classroom.”

This showcase building for education in the State of Maryland and the mid-Atlantic region was designed by Ayers Saint Gross Architect + Planners, who have worked with 40 campuses worldwide, including the University of Virginia, Duke University, University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon University and Guanzhou University City in China.  Holder Construction Company with office in Atlanta, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., managed the project.

For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at  www.salisbury.edu.

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Teacher Education and Technology Center—Selected Facts:
Official Grand Opening:  Thursday, September 4, 2008

Purpose
1.  New home for the Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies, including its Teacher Education, Education Specialties and Social Work departments, it will also house components of the Fulton School of Liberal Arts (art, music and communication arts), Information Technology Office, Teaching and Learning Resources, and the new Integrated Media Center.

2. Ultimately replaces an aging Caruthers Hall classroom building, first built in the 1950s as a campus demonstration school for elementary school children and approximately one-third the size of the TETC.

3. Provides state-of-the-art technology-based classrooms and learning center environments for students and faculty.

Overview
 (Located at the northeast corner of the main campus at U.S. Rt. 13 and College Ave., a colonnaded rotunda with two-story atrium provides a welcoming gateway to the campus.)

4. 165,000 sq. ft. over three stories, the largest building in SU history

5. Traditional brick academic architecture in connected wings and gabled roofs

6. Costs:  approximately $65 million

7. Construction start date:  July 2006; projected completion:  June 2008

8. Design firm:  Ayers Saint Gross Architects + Planners of Baltimore, which has worked with other campuses worldwide including Duke University, University of Virginia, Carnegie Mellon University and Guangzhou University, China

9. Construction manager:  Holder Construction Company with offices in Atlanta, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.

Building Highlights:
--Seidel School:  various Learning Centers; five Methods Labs including Science and Mathematics (STEM); clinics including Adult Education; SMART and Distance Learning Classrooms; Carol and Jim Powers Reading Room; Instructional Resource Center; Faculty Offices; May Literacy Lab; Seminar, Conference, Meeting and Breakout Rooms; Support Space; and Outdoor Classrooms

--200 computers in 8 labs

--Four tiered classrooms, the largest holding over 130 people

--Multi-Media Art Exhibition Studio including plasma screens

--Integrated Media Center with labs and studios, including a 3,000-square-foot high-definition video production studio—one of the few on a university campus nationwide—for HD television, video and audio production; post-production; editing; multi-media and photography. It also includes a 24-track audio recording studio, believed to be the only one on the Eastern Shore.

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What People Are Saying About the New Teacher Education and Technology Center

“The Teacher Education and Technology Center is exceeding all expectations. The facility has beautifully added to the appearance of our campus, and it will enable faculty to launch exhilarating innovations in teaching and learning. Opening up a new world of digital creativity for University students, the TETC offers possibilities for collaboration and intellectual exploration that are cutting-edge and reflect dynamic changes happening in our world.  The facility will impact the ways children are taught in schools and further advance the University’s reputation as a center for excellence in teacher preparation. The TETC will attract even more of Maryland’s most promising students to campus and usher in a new era at Salisbury University.”
–Dr. Janet Dudley-Eshbach, President, Salisbury University

“The TETC marries teacher education and technology in fundamental ways that will have dramatic impacts on how children are taught in our schools.”
–Dr. Dennis Pataniczek, dean of the Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies, Salisbury University

“Our state faces a growing demand for qualified teachers, especially teachers familiar with the new technologies being developed to enhance learning outcomes. The TETC will help address that demand as a state-of-the-art center that unites teaching and technology for the 21st century.”
–William E. Kirwan, Chancellor, University System of Maryland

“The new Teacher Education and Technology Center is another milestone of progress for Salisbury University as it transforms curriculum and training opportunities to meet the challenges of the 21st century for the people of Maryland. I’m proud to be an alumnus and to have had the opportunity to work with this project.”
–The Honorable Norman H. Conway, Maryland House of Delegates and Chair, Maryland House Appropriations Committee

“I’ve been to education schools all over the country, in fact, all over the world, and I’ve never seen one like this.”
–Dr. Virginia Pilato, Maryland State Department of Education