UNF Holds Open House for New College of Education Building

Printer-friendly versionPDF version

Press Release For: June 24, 2009

Contact: Joanna Norris, Assistant Director

Department of Media Relations and Events

(904) 620-2102

The University of North Florida celebrated today the official opening of its brand new College of Education and Human Services (COEHS) Building with an Open House to showcase the University’s latest state-of-the-art facility.

The three-story structure comprises 107,000 gross square feet and cost $21.3 million to construct. The building houses classrooms, teaching labs, faculty offices, meeting rooms and support spaces.

“The COEHS building is a stunning addition to the campus,” said UNF President John A. Delaney. “This new facility will provide the support space needed for the University to prepare tomorrow’s leaders and educators.”

The University’s latest facility, which sits on the West side of the core of campus between the Thomas G. Carpenter Library and the new Student Union Building, enables COEHS faculty, staff and programs to be together in one location for the first time in years.

“The beautiful new building allows all our programs, work and faculty and staff of this wonderful College to be under one roof,” said Dr. Larry Daniel, dean of the College of Education and Human Services. “The versatile classroom space allows for maximum learning environments for our students, and now we also have a stellar facility for interacting with the professional community as well as with our friends and donors of the University.”

Among the many innovative features of the new education building are specially-designed rooms for teaching methods classrooms and a model technology classroom for preparing educators to work with technology in schools, as well as an American Sign Language lab and a large multi-purpose education conference center. The design of the facility also capitalizes on Florida’s abundance of sunlight. With an influx of natural light, the building exudes an open and illuminated ambiance.

The new COEHS building took more than 21,000 man hours to complete; contains 800 tons of structural steel; 3299 cubic yards of concrete; 1158 tons of rebar; 240,000 bricks; 70 miles of copper wire; and more than 17,000 square feet of glass.

The education facility will follow UNF’s other new buildings on campus as a certified “green” building, meaning it uses energy-saving measures, recycled materials and natural light to improve the work environment. Additionally, the University is striving to reach the Silver level of certification for the COEHS building. The Social Sciences Building opened in the fall of 2006 as the first LEED-certified facility in Jacksonville and was the first “green” building on campus.

Baker Barrios Architects in Orlando designed the COEHS Building and Ajax Building Corporation is the construction management firm for the project.

Every year, the COEHS hands out an average of 350 bachelor’s degrees, 200 master’s degrees and 12 doctorate degrees. The College offers 13 bachelor degree programs with 18 concentrations, five master degree programs with 18 concentrations and a doctoral program in Educational Leadership.

-UNF-

News Source : UNF Holds Open House for New College of Education Building