July 31, 2003

New high-tech hub gets
underway at CSUS

Artist rendering of the Academic Information Resource Center

California State University, Sacramento has begun work on its long-awaited
Academic Information Resource Center – a $17.3 million, 100,000 square-foot project that highlights the growing importance of information technology in higher education.

A public groundbreaking ceremony for the facility is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 5 on the south patio of the

University Library. Speakers will include CSUS President Alexander Gonzalez; Spencer Freund, associate vice president of academic affairs/ telecommunications; John Webre of Dreyfuss and Blackford Architects; and Jeff Greene and Rich Henry of McCarthy Building Company.

When completed in early 2005, the four-story center will be the technology hub for the University. It will provide interactive learning labs, 24-hour student computer labs, library study areas, and facilities for a growing number of distance education offerings, which in fall semester will include nearly 50 Web or Web-enhanced classes and two dozen video-based courses. There will be three specialized labs for the computer science program and one for the nursing program. The new center will also bring together most University staff from computing, communications and media services, who now work in various offices across campus.

The project is funded through Proposition 1A, a 1998 state measure providing funding for education facilities.

More information and media assistance is available from CSUS public affairs at (916) 278-6156.

More on major campus construction projects

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