What is the Faculty Commons?

The Faculty Commons is projected to open in September, 2007. Approximately 9000 square feet on the third floor of Alden library has been designated for this innovative space. In addition to providing a home for the Center for Academic Technology (CAT), the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), and the Center for Writing Excellence (CWE), the Commons will house Media Production (formerly IMTS Graphics, photography and Multimedia), which provides a variety of graphic art and multi-media creation services to faculty. The chief collection development officer, who oversees liaison activities between librarians and faculty, will have an office in the Faculty Commons as well.

These offices, along with three well-equipped conference rooms for faculty use, will surround a large, open, lobby-like space that contains workstations, desks and tables, and soft seating. In focus groups, in addition to support for teaching and scholarship, faculty asked for a quiet place to read and study in Alden Library, and the Commons provides an ideal space for these activities. On the other hand, a coffee bar and coffee kiosk offer faculty much needed social space. The new conference rooms are ideal for meetings and for the seminars and workshops provided by the CAT, CTL, and CWE.

Display areas, both high-tech and traditional, will showcase faculty research and teaching projects. Finally, a state-of-the-art technology-equipped classroom—a renovation of the Friends of the Library Room on the 3rd floor—is also included in the project.

Funding, which comes from the Provost, the Libraries, CAT, CTE, and CWE, Media Production, and the University’s renovation budget, underscores the collaborative nature of the project.

The Faculty Commons is another step in the Library Master Plan, which lays out plans for a total renovation of Alden Library. This highly innovative approach will provide high-quality work and study space for faculty, along with services essential to excellent instruction and scholarship, meeting the goals of the library, faculty development, and the university as a whole.