Renovated IMU computer lab to open Wednesday

In the back corner of the Indiana Memorial Union, in what used to be a pottery studio and a darkroom, sit rows of shiny new computers.

In front of them, sleek black and red chairs sit empty.

The smell of fresh paint still lingers in the air.

In the new Student Technology Center in the IMU, workers put up the last pieces of artwork and connected the last computers to wall sockets.

The new center will open at 3:30 p.m. today with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The remodeled computer lab with more stations, new technology and vastly expanded seating, is a partnership of University Information Technology Services and the IMU.

“We don’t have anything like it on this side of campus,” said Student Technology Centers Manager Doug Grover. “The synergy that you see in the Information Commons, it’s a place to go and stay, and we want this to be like that.”

The new technology center has 37 computers – 30 Windows machines and seven Macintosh computers, a consultant station and five Macintosh InfoStations. There are also work areas with moveable tables and seating, as well as portable white boards.

UITS bought four “collaborative media” tables where students can plug in laptops and share screens, and all of the usual printers, color and black and white, as well as a mini-plotter for large prints.

“The traditional computer lab with just rows of computers and gray walls is a thing of the past,” said David Donaldson, director of Learning Technology Operations.

In addition to the expanded seating and computer stations, the center will soon have a brand-new feature: laptop lockers. These lockers will allow users to plug in and leave their laptop in a locker with their own combination lock, and pick up the laptop after class or other campus activities.

The center is on the Mezzanine level of the IMU and is scheduled to be open for all Union hours, from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. The lab had originally been scheduled to open Aug. 31.

Designers said they wanted the center to be more than a computer lab because of the rapid evolution of classroom technology and students’ need for computer access.

“The way students need to study and work is different than even a few years ago,” said UITS spokesman Chip Rondot, “and we’re trying to accommodate the needs of students in providing centers like this where they can hang out, get some food down the hall and get all of their computing needs taken care of.”