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Center for Academic Engagement

Center for Academic Engagement

Education should be hands-on. Collaborative. High-tech. And transparent.

That’s the vision behind the new Academic Engagement Center that will soon rise on the Mercyhurst campus. Groundbreaking is planned for June and completion is expected by fall 2012.

Masses of glass and windows will show students from some of the college’s signature programs – Intelligence Studies and Hospitality Management – as they work together in specially designed classroom spaces and laboratories equipped with the latest equipment to prepare them for the world they’ll enter after graduation.
The building will also be home to a pair of new initiatives that connect Mercyhurst with the wider community – the Evelyn Lincoln Institute for Ethics and Society and the Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics (MCAP).
The four-story, 31,000-square-foot building will be set into the rolling hill north of Hammermill Library. A skywalk over East Main Drive will connect the two facilities.

The building had been discussed for years, but became reality after Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell in December infused $3.5 million in state funds into the project. Contributions to the Engage. Enrich. Envision. capital campaign and building reserves will cover the remainder of the estimated $9 million cost.

Architect Shelley Buehler of Erie’s Buehler and Associates designed the building. While details are still being tweaked, the general layout can be seen in the views on these pages. From the main entrance on the south side, visitors will enter a two-story open atrium that spans the building. During the day, it will be a student gathering area with a coffee kiosk, but the space can also be repurposed to host college functions. The banquet area can seat 160 guests, and the Hospitality Management Department will be in perfect position to cater events from its facilities a floor below.

Because of the natural slope where the building sits, even that lower level will boast a full wall of windows facing north. It will house state-of-the-art training kitchens that allow the head chef to demonstrate to an entire class.
The facility in which students will prepare and serve meals to the public will carry the name of the Marriott Corporation, an early donor.

Buehler took every opportunity to incorporate eco-friendly elements into her design and Green Team Chair Chris Magoc says the Academic Engagement Center will be the “greenest” building yet constructed on campus.
For example, most building components will be fabricated locally to cut trucking, and construction waste materials (from excess metal studs to drywall scraps) will be recycled.

The college’s solar panel array may be relocated to the building’s roof, and additional panels may be added. Part of the roof may also be a “green” or living roof, like the one installed last summer over Zurn Hall.

The many windows will allow faculty and students to maximize use of natural light, while highly energy-efficient lights will be equipped with occupancy controls to turn out lights in rooms that aren’t being used. Exterior lights will be shielded to cut light pollution.

Since the nearby library relies on the area’s geothermal wellfield, a high-performance heat recovery system is planned for this building.

Four senior Interior Design students who are also Sustainability Studies minors have worked with Buehler researching and planning potential green features of the building. Toni Novello is exploring landscaping issues, including retention of green space and the possible planting of rain gardens to allow temporary shallow ponding of rainwater run-off.

Three other students -- Katherine (Kerry) Tabar, Caroline Whitman and Brittany Wirges – are working on incorporating environmentally responsible materials and finishes into the building’s interior.

"Much like the education that will take place within its walls, the very possibility of this building has been collaborative from its conception,” said President Dr. Thomas J. Gamble. “Trustees, students, faculty, donors, elected officials and administrators have all made essential contributions to its realization. All those who will benefit from it owe a debt of gratitude to all those who made this happen."

Rendell announces $3.5 million for new Mercyhurst academic center

Dec 13, 2010

Mercyhurst College expects to break ground this spring on a $9 million academic engagement center, thanks to an infusion of $3.5 million in state funds announced today by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

Rendell made his announcement during a 10 a.m. press conference at the Warner Theatre conference center at 8th and French streets. The allocation represents a grant from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. It will be augmented with a $3 million investment from Mercyhurst College and another $2.5 million from the college’s Engage.Enrich.Envision Capital Campaign.

On hand for the announcement was Mercyhurst College President Dr. Tom Gamble, who said, "First and foremost, this building represents our commitment to the growth in excellence that has marked the history of Mercyhurst College and also strengthens Mercyhurst's fundamental allegiance to providing our students with an unsurpassed, hands-on learning experience. We are enormously grateful to the governor, state Senator Jane Earll and Rep. Florindo Fabrizio, along with the entire Mercyhurst family of donors for their generous support.”

Gamble said the new building, to be constructed on the east side of the front campus on space currently occupied by the college’s maintenance facilities, will allow the college to bring together compatible academic programs and use that synergy to strengthen existing majors and create exciting new ones.

It will house the internationally recognized Mercyhurst College Institute for Intelligence Studies and the college’s hospitality management department, along with dynamic academic offerings in communication and graphic design, all programs that will prepare students for professional service sector jobs that are expected to see the most growth over the next decade.

The new Mercyhurst Center for Applied Politics and the Evelyn Lincoln Institute for Ethics and Society will also be housed in the center.

The building will be a hub of experiential learning, where students will produce intelligence estimates for decision-makers, oversee public opinion research and manage conference and banquet facilities.

The four-floor, 41,000-square-foot structure, designed by Buehler & Associates of Erie, will incorporate flexible teaching and learning spaces, including a collaborative research center and computer and digital media labs equipped with the latest technologies; faculty offices; a 180-seat auditorium; a commercial-grade kitchen and conference and banquet facilities accommodating approximately 200, which will be marketed to local and regional businesses and organizations.

As a rising model of sustainability among institutions of higher education, Mercyhurst intends to construct its newest structure with optimized sustainable features to meet the equivalent of a LEED Silver or Gold rating.

The building is expected to be ready for occupancy in fall 2012.