higher education : Development News

Construction is underway at Morgan State University's $59 million architecture school, slated to open August 2012.

The Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies will bring Morgan's architecture, city and regional planning, construction management, and landscape architecture schools under one roof.

The center, expected to receive a silver or gold LEED certification, will also house research on green building technology, says MaryAnne Akers, dean of the school of architecture and planning. Researchers at the center will hopefully create and invent technology that help buildings use less energy. Kiosks will inform visitors to the center how much energy the building is saving.

"It will bring us more visibility for the architecture program," Akers says of the center.

The building, which broke ground last year, will be home to the school's civil engineering and transportation programs as well. The 126,000-square-foot school will contain four classrooms, 100 offices, conference rooms, an atrium with skylights, a green roof and 300 parking spaces.

The historically black college offers one of two architecture programs in the state. The other is offered at the University of Maryland College Park.


Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: MaryAnne Akers, Morgan State

Wellness education school Tai Sophia Institute is launching a new masters program in the fall as it embarks on a 10-year growth plan to quadruple its enrollment.

The Laurel school will enroll 45 students in September in its masters in nutrition and integrative health. It may add a second batch of students in January if demand for the program continues, Tai Sophia Provost Judith Broida says.

The school already has enough applicants to fill the fall class without advertising it. The program will take a look at how food is an important component of wellness.

School officials are scouting Howard County for a commercial kitchen they can lease where students can prepare meals to support the program and others. Eventually, it would like to own its own building housing one.

That's not the only real estate it will need in the coming years. The school will require new buildings to house classrooms, administrative offices, and labs as it seeks to add more students.

Broida says she hopes to increase enrollment from 550 students to 2,000 over the next 10 years. That doesn't include students who will hopefully be enrolled online once it begins a distance learning program late 2012. 

The school has launched six new programs in the last year and four new programs in the coming year. These include a masters in integrative health coaching and graduate certificate programs in Chinese wellness systems, specialty acupuncture and Aryuvedic health.

As health care costs rise, people are looking for alternatives to western, allopathic medicine, Broida says.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Judith Broida

Baltimore City Community College is embarking on an $11 million renovation that will spruce up its aging Liberty Heights campus and build a new computer lab to support growing online enrollment.

College officials plan to upgrade the HVAC, fire, sprinkler, and other systems in the administrative offices of the main building, college spokesman Patrick Onley says. That building dates to 1965.

"It's long due for an overhaul," Onley says of the main building.

The new computer lab will support distance learning. Currently, 2,143 students take at least one online course. That represents about one third of its total enrollment of credit students and is an 11 percent increase over last year, Onley says.

"That's why it's important for us to have a new computer lab."

Construction on the renovations should begin in October, and January 2012 for the computer lab. Onley says he is not sure when the projects will be completed.

The college hopes to get $2.25 million from the state's 2012 budget and another $8 million from that of fiscal 2013 to go toward the renovation.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Patrick Onley, Baltimore City Community College

The Maryland Institute College of Art wants residents to ask the question: Is Baltimore a place where they feel like they belong, or do bad public transportation and privatization of public space impede opportunities?

The Bolton Hill college has assembled a group of scholars, artists, and activists to host a series of art installations and lectures April1-May 15. The series, called "Baltimore: Open City," was planned to coincide with National Fair Housing Month. The events include a film series, author readings and an off-the-beaten-path tour of Baltimore.

Tourists, students and some Baltimore residents live in their respective "bubbles," says MICA Art History Professor Daniel D'Oca. He, along with MICA students enrolled in an exhibition development class at the college, organized the events.

Restrictive covenants have made it possible for developers to build walls around certain neighborhoods, D'Oca says. MICA officials hope event attendees walk away with ideas on how to create a more open city.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Daniel D'Oca, MICA

Students in College Park will get to rest their heads in a new, eco-friendly apartment complex.

Built by Columbia's Star Global Ventures, LEED-certified the Enclave will open in the spring with 94 apartment units and 369 beds in a seven-story tower. The building's first floor consists of a lobby, 10,000 square feet of retail place, and visitor parking.

The building consists of a separate parking garage for students, and a study lounge with computers and study equipment, fitness center, bike storage, and courtyard.

Construction on the six-story second phase, with another 369 beds, will begin in 2012.

Designed by Hord Coplan Macht, the Enclave's eco-friendly features include:
• Location near public transportation and within walking and biking distance of shopping areas;
• Roof that reduces energy consumption and pollutant emission;
• Energy-star rated appliances, lighting and windows;
• Use of regionally sourced construction materials; and,
• Ongoing recycling programs.

Located at 8700 Baltimore Ave., the University of Maryland building is financed by a consortium of credit unions led by the State Employee's Credit Union.

The apartments include two bedroom, two bathrooms at 850 square feet to four bedrooms, four bathrooms at 1,200 square feet.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Nisha Majmudar, Star Global Ventures

The University of Maryland School of Medicine is building a $200 million proton therapy cancer treatment center, the first of its kind in the area to offer a certain type of radiation treatment.

The 100,000-square foot building will be built at the University of Maryland BioPark on the city's west side. The cancer center will break ground in August and faculty members could begin providing treatments as early as 2014. The center will serve 2,000 patients annually.

The medical school's radiation oncology practice plan has signed a letter of intent with Advanced Particle Therapy LLC of Minden, Nev., to create the Maryland Proton Treatment Center LLC. The center will design, own, and operate the center while the University of Maryland faculty will provide clinical management and therapeutic services.

The center will create 435 jobs, including 325 construction jobs and 110 jobs in the life sciences industry. Those jobs include radiation
oncologists, medical physicists, radiation technologists, other medical support personnel, and administrative staff.

Proton therapy uses a proton beam to deliver radiation more precisely to the tumor site than with standard X-ray radiation, resulting in less overall radiation exposure. The treatment is used for many common cancers as well as for some rarer instances of the disease.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: University of Maryland, Baltimore

After more than 15 years of planning, the University of Maryland opened its new $62 million pharmacy school Oct. 5 on the city's west side.

Construction began nearly two years ago on the 128,951-square-foot building. The expansion will help address a shortage of skilled pharmacists in the state.

The seven-story building includes lecture halls equipped with technology for distance learning, experiential learning facilities, and research laboratories. It also includes a dispensing laboratory with state-of-the-art robotics. The building features two 200-seat lecture halls, classrooms, and seminar rooms. To help train pharmacists with expanded health care roles, facilities in the new building are designed to evaluate how students carry out clinical examinations of patients.

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy will house 135 employees and will allow the school to boost its operational revenues and research activities by $14.9 million.

School officials are seeking a Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for the building.

Founded in 1841, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy is the fourth oldest school of pharmacy in the nation.

University of Maryland, Baltimore isn't the only school featuring a new pharmacy building project. The College of Notre Dame of Maryland broke ground on its $13 million pharmacy building in May. The 25,000-square-foot building will be completed summer 2011.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: University of Maryland

Howard Community College will construct a $49 million health sciences building to train paramedics, nurses, radiology technicians, dental hygienists, and physical therapists to address a critical workforce shortage.

Construction will begin next spring and end in December 2012. Students will begin taking classes in the 63,000-square foot facility in spring 2013.

Located on the Columbia school's main campus at 10901 Little Patuxent Pkwy., the building includes 28 labs, group study rooms, three conference rooms, and 45 offices for faculty. Students training to become emergency medical workers will also be able to test their skills on mannequins in a "state-of-the-art simulation suite." Funding for the building is coming from the county and the state.

School officials expect to enroll another 640 students in the college once the building is completed, says Sharon Pierce, vice president of academic affairs. Howard Community College currently has 9,000 enrolled students, of which 1,800 are enrolled in the health sciences curriculum.

Student demand for these classes is high, Pierce says. There's currently a wait list to get into the nursing program, but not enough space to accommodate more students.

"We have outgrown our space and cannot increase enrollment," Pierce says.

Maryland is expected to need 10,000 nurses by 2016, according to the Maryland Hospital Association.

School leaders like the Columbia area because the town is suburban yet cosmopolitan, Pierce says. It's also convenient for students coming from either Baltimore or Washington, D.C.

Howard Community College was one of the local colleges that received a total of $11 million in grants from Maryland companies to address the nursing shortage. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., MedStar Health and other companies also gave money to Anne Arundel Community College, Stevenson University, Towson University, and Coppin State University.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Sharon Pierce, Howard Community College

Anne Arundel Community College will begin a $21 million renovation and expansion of its outdated library next spring in an effort to modernize its campus.

The project will add 31,000 square feet to the building, which is currently 44,000 square feet. The new space will house a computer lab, tutoring services and a reading department.

The expansion will begin April 2011 and will be completed in 2012 or 2013. Funding for the project comes from the state and Anne Arundel County.

School officials want to upgrade the building, which dates back to 1968, so that it includes the technology and collaborative learning spaces that other college libraries have nowadays, says Anne Arundel Community College Library Director, Cynthia Steinhoff.

"The building was designed for a much smaller student population and we are very crowded," Steinhoff says.

Like many other community colleges, the Arnold campus enrollment continues to rise as more people head back to school to gain skills that could help them land jobs. So far 15,877 students have signed up for the fall school year. That's about 5 percent more than the number it had last year, spokeswoman Susan Gross says.

The college has hired two architectural firms, Ewing Cole, in Philadelphia and D.C., and Woollen Molzan and Partners Inc., of Indianapolis, to design the building.

"The building will be more attractive and look much more contemporary," Steinhoff says. School officials think of the library, at 101 College Pkwy., as the "heart of the college."

"We are thinking of the new structure as the jewel of the campus."

School officials like the campus' location because it is centrally located for county residents.

"It's an easy location to get to," Steinhoff says.

Sources: Cynthia Steinhoff, Susan Gross, Anne Arundel Community College
Writer: Julekha Dash

This may be the era of e-readers and iPads, but one bookstore in Towson is actually growing from its sales of hard copy books.

BookHolders, which specializes in college textbooks, opened its new location Aug. 9 at 208 York Rd. The 6,000 square foot store is 50 percent larger than its old home at 425 York Rd.

The new location is closer to the university, making it more convenient for students, says Ryna Luckert, the store's marketing manager.

The spot comes with 20 parking spots and has greater visibility since it's located at the busy intersection of Towson Town Boulevard and York Road, Luckert says.

"Students can see us better."

The larger space also allows BookHolders to sell more college apparel.

Started in 1999, BookHolders currently has six locations. The others are located in College Park, Blacksburg, Va., Richmond, Va., Morgantown, W.Va., and Tampa, Fla. BookHolders opened the Towson location in 2007.

The company likes the town because it is close to several universities, Luckert says. Aside from Towson University, others nearby include Goucher College, College of Notre Dame and University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

With competition from so many online sources, how is that a bookstore is growing?

"We try to offer the absolute cheapest textbooks," Luckert says. "We're always making sure we're very competitive that we have the best prices for students."

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Ryna Luckert

A six-year-old technology consulting firm is moving from Howard County to the incubator at the University of Maryland Baltimore County as it wins more clients and hires more employees.

Audacious Inquiry LLC has outgrown its 1,450-square-foot space at Columbia's Center for Business and Technology Development, Managing Partner Christopher Brandt says.

The company, which employs 16, will move into the 2,650-square-foot office at bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park Aug. 14.
Brandt says he chose the research park at UMBC because it is convenient for employees and clients that live in either Baltimore or Washington, D.C. The Catonsville campus at 5523 Research Park Drive is located on the Interstate 95 corridor.

"Other than the logistics [of moving], we're excited about the new space," Brandt says.

Audacious Inquiry has carved a niche in the health care and Web application development arenas.

Its clients include the Maryland Hospital Association, Inova Health System and MedStar Health. It's also a subcontractor for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. It recently picked up its first prime contract with the federal government, with the USGS Energy Resources Program.

Federal incentives for health care providers that move their paper patient records online is one reason Audacious Inquiry is growing.

The company has added half a dozen employees in the last 18 months and plans to hire several more in the next six to 12 months, Brandt says. These include subject matter experts in health information technology, software developers and technical project managers.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Christopher Brandt, Audacious Inquiry

The University of Maryland Baltimore County has broken ground on a $170 million  performing arts and humanities building that will be the Catonsville school's largest building to date.

"We have vibrant arts and humanities [programs] here that don't have as high a visibility as science and engineering," UMBC spokesman Thomas Moore says.

"We're hoping this will provide an opportunity for people to get to know us better."

Known for its computer science and engineering programs, UMBC officials hope that the building will boost its reputation in these fields and get more locals involved with the school by showcasing performances and lectures.

The 167,000 square foot building will open in two phases. The first phase, the department of theater and English, will open in 2012.  It will also include the Dresher Center for the Humanities, which will host public lectures and events. The second phase, which houses the department of dance, music, philosophy and ancient studies, will open in 2016.

"We're confident that every student who begins here will end up taking classes in this building," Moore says. "It's a building that will touch of the lives of every student."

The bulk of the building's funding will come from the state's capital budget.

UMBC officials hope the Catonsville location will make it convenient for people from other areas to catch a performance or talk at the new building. The campus is close to Interstates 95 and 695 and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Boston's William Rawn Associates Inc. and Grimm + Parker Architects of Calverton designed the building. William Rawn's other projects include the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Music Center at Strathmore and Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood.

Moore says the stainless steel and brick structure at 1000 Hilltop Circle will have a reflective quality that will display different hues at different times of the day.

"We hope it will be a very beautiful-looking building when it's done."

Source: Thomas Moore, UMBC
Writer: Julekha Dash

The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is opening a community arts center in East Baltimore that will expand its graduate programs and hopefully boost its relationship with the community.

The school is spending $1.2 million to renovate the 24,000-square-foot building at 814 N. Collington Avenue, funding for which came from the Rouse Co. Foundation, the Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation and an anonymous trustee. MICA expects the center, the former St. Wenceslaus School, to open mid-September.

Called MICA Place, the space will host graduate courses in community arts and social design and community meetings. It will also contain art studios, a computer laboratory, exhibition space and graduate apartments.

The center will allow students to use their art in a way that engages the community, says Ray Allen vice president of academic affairs and provost.

For instance, students pursuing a Master's in Community Arts might work with youth in East Baltimore to learn photography and use the art as a medium for reflecting on the issues facing the neighborhood, Allen says.

"I had it in my head that art and design could be put at the service of increasing the quality of life in the community," Allen says. "We can engage the community is a much richer way."

MICA has had a stake in East Baltimore for a decade, as part of a collaboration called the MICA/JHU Design coalition. Johns Hopkins University researchers tap the design expertise of MICA students to create graphics to deliver public health messages.

MICA is leasing the building from nonprofit East Baltimore Development Inc., the nonprofit that oversees the massive biotechnology park and residential development near Johns Hopkins Hospital.

"It's a wonderful building in East Baltimore," Allen says. "It will be a great place where people in the community can brought in."

Having a physical presence in the community will give MICA visibility and credibility, Allen hopes.

"This will give us community trust, that we're not some elitist outside organization visiting," he says.  "At the end of the day, education is our mission. Art is our vehicle for doing it."

Read more of Bmore's education coverage.

Source: Ray Allen, Maryland Institute College of Art
Writer: Julekha Dash

A fast-growing beauty school is betting its lipstick and mascara on Baltimore. Regency Beauty Institute of Minneapolis has opened a new campus at 8660 Pulaski Highway in Rosedale, with classes to begin in March.

And the company has plans to open more schools in the region, spokesman Paul Kriloff says. The company invests between $750,000 and $1 million in each school, whose sizes range from 6,000 to 7,000 square feet. Kriloff could not say yet where the other new locations will be located.

Regency opened 17 new campuses last year and is counting on similar growth this year. The 50-year-old company currently operates 60 campuses in 17 states.

In choosing a new location, Regency looks for an area where this is strong job demand and skilled faculty that can offer its classes on hair cutting, nail care and skin care. Baltimore offered both, Kriloff says.

"We have been impressed with the caliber of people who have expressed interest in joining our team," he says. The Baltimore school will employ about seven.

Regency chose the Pulaski Highway spot because it is easy for students to get to and is located in a busy neighborhood with a strong retail environment. The 6,400-square-foot Rosedale building is near Route 40 and the Golden Ring Mall Shopping Center.
 
The school offers 18 to 20 classes a year that cost between $16,000 and $18,000 per year. New full-time classes begin every four weeks while part-time classes begin every eight weeks.

H&R Retail LLC's Geoffrey Mackler brokered the real estate deal locally on behalf of Regency.

Regency will open new campuses this year in Arkansas, Indianapolis and in Manassas, Va.

Source: Paul Kriloff, Regency Beauty Institute
Writer: Julekha Dash

Leaders at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine are seeking greener pastures.

School officials are pursuing a silver LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for four medical research buildings. Its facilities management office and computer teaching lab, located at 2024 E. Monument St., have already received a Silver LEED certification for commercial interiors. The renovated building is the first office in all of Johns Hopkins' campuses to achieve LEED status. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

"It shows the institution is serious about the environment and reducing our carbon footprint," says Jack Grinnalds, senior director of facilities management at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
 
In its application to the U.S. Green Building Council, Hopkins officials had to show that the school has plenty of parking and is close to public transportation, Grinnalds says.

Is other green initiatives that helped it achieve LEED status include:
• Reducing water consumption by 40 percent;
• Relying on regionally manufactured materials for nearly one-third of the materials used in its renovation. That reduces the need to transport materials and saves on energy costs; and,
• Relying on sensors so lights are turned off when the offices are not in use.

"It's quite a thrill and an honor," says Grinnalds of receiving the Silver LEED certification. "We've been working on this stuff for years and its finally getting to the point where we can get some publicity on it."

The school will know later this month whether its four research buildings will receive LEED certification.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Jack Grinnalds, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine