The College of Education could soon get a new home.
Auburn's Board of Trustees will consider a proposal Friday for a new building that would house classrooms, faculty offices and other facilities for the College of Education.
With an enrollment of more than 1,800 undergraduate and roughly 1,000 graduate students, the College of Education is the fifth-largest academic unit on campus and the largest graduate school at Auburn.
"The new College of Education Building will enhance the student experience of those in the College by providing up-to-date and modern classrooms, instructional laboratories and clinical spaces, as well as administrative offices for faculty and staff," the proposal reads.
Most College of Education classes and administrative offices are currently housed in the Haley Center, though faculty and classes are assigned to six other facilities across campus including the coliseum, Wallace Center, the Dawson Building and Ramsay Hall.
The new building, which is part of a long-standing goal of moving personnel and classes out of Haley Center for a potential renovation or redevelopment, would allow for departments and classes in the College of Education to be consolidated into one building.
According to the Campus Master Plan, the School of Kinesiology would be the only department or school within the College of Education that wouldn't relocate to the new building.
The proposed building would be located on P.O. Davis Drive to the west of the Poultry Science Building.
"A peripheral location is desirable given that the enrollment of the College is upper division and that student engagement will occur entirely within the new facility or off-campus in local schools," the Campus Master Plan notes.
Constructing a new home for the College of Education has been a priority for campus planners since the Campus Master Plan was updated in 2013.
Planning for the building is only in its initial stages. The board's approval Friday would allow for the selection process to choose an architect to begin.
Though few plans are publicly available for the building, the Campus Master Plan set a minimum required total square footage of 73,942 feet and a few planning considerations:
- A goal is to expand outreach activities through GED adult learning centers, regional in-service centers, the community music program and the counseling program.
- A growth in distance education and community outreach will require new technologically enhanced services and spaces.
- More innovative learning spaces, including combined lecture and laboratory space are needed to support current pedagogy.
- Academic departments are currently spread across campus; the College would like to bring departments together in a new facility.
- Inviting, flexible spaces that promote collaboration
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Chip Brownlee, senior in journalism and political science, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
