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The summer recess has seen significant investment to further enhance student facing services.
The University is committed to creating the best student experience possible by ensuring that the learning and teaching environment we offer has the most up to date technologies and facilities. Our existing and future students will greatly benefit from the investment we are making and it will further enhance our position as a world leading institution
A major project due for completion in August is the alteration and refurbishment of the James Watt Centre into a modern state of the art learning and teaching facility with complementary hospitality and conference facilities. The £4million investment, undertaken with significant stakeholder engagement, will see 130 study spaces created and world class facilities established.
Our international students will benefit greatly from the modernisation of the Student Services Centre. The Centre will be the main point of contact for all international students, bringing together the GoGlobal; Scholarshps; International Student Advisors office and existing Centre staff in one location. Opposite, the present Student Support Office will become the Student Wellbeing Office, where student counselling, student disability and support teams will be based.
Further along the ground floor of the Hugh Nisbet Building, the former Blackwells bookshop is being redeveloped to provide a designated training room for Assistive Technology and a resource area adjacent to the very popular Learning Commons. This latter facility has been very successful and well used by many students and staff. It provides 200 study and learning spaces in various configurations and this will inform the type and style of spaces that are to be created in the refurbished Cameron Smail library building.
The £6m refurbishment project for the Library will transform it into a modern, flexible and comfortable learning environment. Having commenced in the summer, the project will run for two years, and thanks to staff, students and consultants will result in more study spaces (up to over 1,000 from the current 825), an improved working environment with a variety of collaborative study spaces, double the number of accessible study rooms and improved layout of library stock. There will also be more desk space, more space between work areas, more PC workstations and many other improvements to the building itself to help future proof it. The library will remain open throughout the project with disruption kept to a minimum.
Commenting on the projects and investment undertaken, Professor John Sawkins, Deputy Principal, Learning and Teaching said: “The University is committed to creating the best student experience possible by ensuring that the learning and teaching environment we offer has the most up to date technologies and facilities. Our existing and future students will greatly benefit from the investment we are making and it will further enhance our position as a world leading institution.”
In addition to these major projects, work is underway across the University in order to upgrade a variety of Learning and Teaching spaces. In addition, the Postgraduate Centre is seeing the creation of a new mini Learning Commons.