Learning Commons as Symbol: the new heart of our communities?

Last month I saw a presentation by Robert Sumichrast, Dean of the Pamplin College of Business here at Virginia Tech. He shared his vision for a series of new buildings that would comprise the Business Learning Community. The concept is still coming together but it includes several interconnected structures: offices, classrooms, and residential spaces. The centerpiece is an experiential learning commons.

Several aspects are informing the design. First is Innovate, a residential living learning community that fosters the startup spirit. It brings together students from different disciplines and surrounds them with a curriculum and mentorship that encourages entrepreneurship.

Second is a recent renovation. The atrium in the current business building was transformed from a bleak lost space into an inviting collegial setting. The success demonstrated the need for more of this type of environment.

I recently toured Dean Sumichrast around the library and we spoke about his vision. My main takeaway: this type of facility would be a competitive advantage. It seems that building a great business school is about building connections between students, faculty and staff, alumni, and business professionals. Having space that fosters these conversations and relationships is essential.

Here are a few notes from our conversation about the new buildings:

Residential

• Gives students connections with each other outside of the classroom.
• Gives students informal exposure to other majors across the College: accounting, marketing, management, hospitality, finance, etc.
• Aim is to hold about 1/10 of all business undergraduates: roughly about 350 students.
• Plan to have a few apartments for visiting scholars or visiting entrepreneurs.

Classrooms

• Want to support individual and team learning.
• Imagining four classroom models replicated throughout the building. For example, Model A: tiered, Model B: flexible tables, and so on. This makes it easier for scheduling while also providing a variety of traditional and nontraditional teaching/learning spaces.
• Breakout rooms. Students might meet in a classroom to learn theory but then go to side rooms to work on problems. Afterwards, they reassemble and share solutions.
• A few specialized rooms including a culinary lab.
• One large auditorium for special events and intro courses. But otherwise want to avoid large lecture halls.
• Video conferencing capabilities in every classroom.

Commons

• It has to feel “alive” and inviting
• Café and dining
• Not just for students but faculty and staff too
• Alumni and visitors should feel welcomed too
• Want to encourage collision points. People walking to class, offices, or residences will intersect with each other. Want to encourage spontaneous and informal conversations: people talking about life, sports, news, stock trading—things beyond assignments.
• Open 24/7

The New Heart? Libraries as stages for conversations
There is the old cliché of libraries as the heart of universities. Is the learning commons becoming the new vital organ? When I listened to Dean Sumichrast describe his future commons as “the symbol of the College” I realized that’s exactly how I want people to view their library.

Maybe our future is less about being the heart and more along the lines of being the connective tissue that entwines intellectual and social endeavors. We bring people together to share, discover, explore, build, and reflect throughout campus, not just in our buildings.

Librarians everywhere can embraces these types of opportunities. As colleges and universities begin incorporating these commons environments, we can share our insights. Our profession has been working on this for nearly two decades. We are always renovating our buildings and tweaking our spaces. We are constantly assessing and improving them. We have toolkits. We have ethnographers. We have conferences.

Developing learning environments is part of our DNA. Exporting our experiences to new locations seems like the logical next step. The driving question: how can we help improve informal learning all across campus? Everyone is grappling with this: provosts’ offices, student affairs, deans, faculty, staff, and facilities managers.

Here is the thing. As higher education morphs, as more and more content and processes go online, there seems to be an increasing demand for physical environments. There is an insatiable appetite for informal hubs where people can talk and work on things together. This is something we can help with. Modern knowledge spaces are kind of our thing.

Our classic reputation might be associated with quiet havens but unexpectedly librarians have become experts at staging conversations.