Next fall, Eastern Kentucky University’s library will open what planners call a cutting-edge innovation.
The Noel Studio for Academic Creativity — at the library’s center — will give students a single location where they can get help with research, writing and public presentations.
The studio will include sound-proof rooms with the latest audio-visual equipment so students can practice public presentations and review their performances.
Space for public presentations also will be available.
“At each step of the way, as students do research, write and practice, coaches will be available to offer critiques and advice,” said Dr. Russell Carpenter, who will direct the studio.
Perhaps no other university in the nation will have a comparable facility, said Carpenter, who wrote a doctoral dissertation on the concept at the University of Central Florida.
Carpenter is a perfect fit as studio director, said Betina Gardner, EKU’s librarian for public services.
“We knew he was the person for this job,” she said, “because he was thinking exactly along the same lines as we were. And, he had thoroughly researched the concept and its effectiveness.”
As a storage area was gutted to make way for the studio, workers uncovered a triple archway that was part of the original 1924 library structure but had not been seen for more than a generation.
“The brick archways were part of the building’s original entrance,” said Kari Martin, the library’s development director. “The archways got covered over when the library was expanded in the mid-1960s and the entrance was moved out to the sidewalk on University Drive,” she said.
The discovery has prompted the university to revise the studio’s design to incorporate the archways. Steam pipes that run behind the central arch will be moved.
Giant skylights that for about 45 years had illuminated only a storage space also will be incorporated into the design, Martin said.
Older alumni and retired faculty given a tour of the project area Saturday recalled the old library entrance and their memories of EKU when it was known as Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College.
The studio is being named in honor of Ron and Sherrie Lou Noel of northern Kentucky, who are major donors to the project.
Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 624-6622.
EKU News
Related Photos
-
Kari Martin, left, and Dr. Russell Carpenter examine three brick archways that were uncovered as space in Eastern Kentucky University’s library is being renovated to house a center for academic creativity. Unseen in more than a generation, the archways that once formed the library’s entrance will be incorporated into the studio’s design.
Uncovering the past while building for the future
- EKU News
-
-
EKU professor authors ‘Great Civil War Stories of Kentucky’
A century and a half after the first shots of the Civil War were fired, Dr. Marshall Myers, professor of English at Eastern Kentucky University, reminds readers of the harsh realities of war, and how it affected soldiers and civilians alike in his new book, “Great Civil War Stories of Kentucky.”
-
Presidential debate delegation visits EKU
A three-member delegation of the Commission on Presidential Debates visited Eastern Kentucky University on Thursday.
EKU, which submitted a bid earlier this year to host a debate, is one of 12 colleges and universities nationwide competing to host four debates in 2012 — three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate. It is expected that the site selections will be announced this fall. -
EKU co-op program first in state to earn accreditation
Eastern Kentucky University’s Cooperative Education Program has become the first co-op program in the Commonwealth and only the 12th nationally to receive accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Cooperative Education.
-
A chance for grads and bands to reunite
Eastern Kentucky University alumni and friends are invited to visit the campus April 29 through May 1 when EKU hosts its annual Alumni Weekend, highlighted this year by performances from former members of bands that played at Speck’s, the legendary nightspot previously in downtown Richmond.
Friday, April 29 will offer an evening of live music from the Speck’s bands, including former members of “The Maroons” and “The Exiles,” from 7 to 10 p.m. in the Perkins Building.The cost of $22 includes beverages, appetizers, the live music and dancing. -
EKU tuition, meals on the rise, again
Eastern Kentucky Univer-sity expects the state’s Council on Post-secondary Education to allow regional universities to raise in-state tuition by 5 percent for the coming academic year, according to EKU President Doug Whitlock.
On Monday, the EKU regents voted to take the maximum the council will allow and delegated its academic affairs committee to impose the increase after the council’s Thursday meeting. -
Spring fling
Morgan Jolly, Miss Kentucky Teen 2011, and an Eastern Kentucky University freshman education major from Versailles, prepares to pop bubbles Monday with Sanjay Blevins, a special education student at Model Laboratory School. Jolly and about 19 others who reside in EKU’s education majors’ Living and Learning Community and 14 Model special-ed students enjoyed an hour of fun at the college students’ invitation. Such events outside of their school setting helps special-needs children developmentally, said Jolly, who planned the event with roommate Amanda Hubler.
-
California Schemin’
Amanda West, from left, Micah Daniel Bennett, Alyssa Will, Marshall Manley and Whitlie Rose rehearse a scene from Eastern Kentucky University Theatre’s production of “California Schemin’” Performances continue tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Gifford Theatre of the Jane F. Campbell Building. To reserve or purchase tickets, students and senior citizens are $5 and adults are $6, call the box office at 622-1323.
-
EKU to host Science, engineering fair
Eastern Kentucky University will host the 9th annual Kentucky Science and Engineering Fair on Saturday at Alumni Coliseum. This is the state fair in which middle school and high school students from throughout the Commonwealth will be participating.
The event will feature the research of more than 215 students who have advanced through local and regional competitions across the state. They will be competing for ribbons, trophies, scholarships and special awards from corporations and various organizations.
The high school students who are selected as the Best of Fair will be a member of Team Kentucky that will represent the state at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles in May.
The public can view the student’s work from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday inside Alumni Coliseum on EKU’s campus. The awards ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. in Brock Auditorium in the Coates Building. -
‘Brain Rules’ author to speak at EKU
John Medina, author of the New York Times bestseller “Brain Rules,” will present a public lecture Tuesday, March 29 at Eastern Kentucky University.
His talk, “Brain Rules for Teaching,” will begin at 6 p.m. in Walnut Hall of the Keen Johnson Building. There will be a question-and-answer period following the session. -
Environmental ‘Hero’ to speak at EKU
Graciela Chichilnisky, recognized by Time Magazine in 2009 as one of the “Heroes of the Environment,” will speak at Eastern Kentucky University Thursday, March 31.
Her presentation titled “Avoiding Extinction” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in O’Donnell Hall of the Student Success Building. It is part of the University’s year-long Chautauqua lecture series and serves as the sixth-annual Distinguished Lecture in International Studies and keynote address for Women’s History Month. The event is free and open to the public. - More EKU News Headlines
-
EKU professor authors ‘Great Civil War Stories of Kentucky’
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Neighbors of Etan Patz's Suspect: It's Shocking
Gulf Fishermen Reel From Seafood Troubles
Stuntman Makes Skydive Without Parachute in UK
