Launching the Living Room

CONWAY, Ark. (March 18, 2008) – Hendrix College launched construction of its new $22.8 million Student Life and Technology Center during a special event Tuesday afternoon adjacent to the new building’s construction site.

More than a traditional college student center, Hendrix’s Student Life and Technology Center will incorporate state-of-the-art technological automation unlike any other educational facility on a college campus in Arkansas, Hendrix President J. Timothy Cloyd said. He called the facility “the new living room of Hendrix’s campus,” showcasing the Student Life and Technology Center as a place where students can relax, interact and utilize the world’s most modern technology in an educational setting.

Along with a dining hall, café, game room and post office, the new 80,000 square-foot facility will include a 5,000 square-foot centralized programming space with state-of-the-art lighting and sound equipment and two 21-foot projection screens. The facility will also include offices for student affairs and academic support services, along with offices for student organizations and student media.

A distinguishing feature of the Student Life and Technology Center will be the Educational Technology Center (ETC), accessible 24 hours a day to students and faculty. The ETC will weave state-of-the-art teaching, learning, and social technology into Hendrix’s campus, enhancing the educational experience with advanced technological features, Cloyd said. The ETC will include:

• Computer workstations with large flat-panel SMART Board interactive whiteboards to facilitate group projects as well as more traditional individual computer desks with widescreen monitors.
• Software for preparing video and digital media presentations.
• A video conference room linking students and faculty with their peers around the world for coursework and Odysseys.
• A practice classroom where students can create audio and video recordings of rehearsal presentations using the most current instructional technology.
• Distributed technology providing strategically located flat-panel SMART Board displays that accept student laptop and hand-held connections for collaboration in designated areas throughout the building.

Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is among 165 colleges featured in the 2008 edition of the Princeton Review America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.

For more information, contact Mark Scott at scottm@hendrix.edu or 501-450-1462.