Grants and Acquisitions

摘要

Purdue University has received a $40 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. to fund initiatives designed to foster groundbreaking research, expand high-tech job growth throughout Indiana as well as nationally and globally, and enhance opportunities for students. A portion of the grant will support the Purdue Libraries, including $5 million for the Active Learning Center, a facility that will fuse classrooms, libraries, and study and collaboration areas into one adaptable space-an innovation that no other American university offers. The active-learning approach encourages students to be more active and engaged in their learning activities and the knowledge gained. The facility will consist of 38,000 square feet of study space and 59,000 square feet of classroom space. The Active Learning Center, under construction at the former site of the Engineering Administration Building and the North Power Plant, will blend and integrate centrally scheduled active-learning classrooms, library/information services, formal study spaces, collaborative work areas, and informal learning spaces. During the class day, 40 percent of the center will be library/study spaces. During the evening and throughout the night, the study space will expand to nearly the entire building. Inside the center, six libraries currently located at various points on campus will come together to form the Thomas S. and Harvey D. Wilmeth Library of Engineering and Science. Students will be able to tailor spaces to their own needs, pursuing information on their own or meeting in discussion and study groups. The Active Learning Center is scheduled to be ready for use in 2017.