Classrooms, Residence Halls, and the Library…Oh My!

      It’s been a month and we have all had quite some time to explore what the University of Illinois at Chicago has to offer!   As most colleges, UIC has four uber important factors that make it an amazing campus: Student Services Building, classrooms, residence halls, and a state of the art library!  All of these things – in their own ways – help UIC achieve its mission statement by helping students of all different backgrounds receive the best education possible.

     As I had stated in my previous post, the Student Services Building (SSB) is where the magic begins.  It is where incoming freshman take their placement tests before orientation.  Once we attend our orientation, we receive our I-Cards and eventually go here to pick up our U-Passes.  It is home to many of the offices that assist students with attending UIC.  The building was formerly a mall, so its setup works perfectly for all those offices!  Some of the offices include the Academic Center for Excellence, Admission, Career Services, Financial Aid, and several other organizations that focus on helping those of certain nationalities.  The mission statement talks about how UIC wishes to provide a variety of students with the opportunity to attend such an amazing university.  It also states that they hope to foster scholarship and respond to the wide diversity of students.  The offices in SSB are to help students not only start their career at UIC, but to also help the afford it.
     The University of Illinois at Chicago has oh so many different halls to host classrooms. There are: the Lecture Halls (A through E with six lecture halls each); Douglas, Grant, and Lincoln Halls; and Burham, Addams, and Taft Halls (aka the BAT Cave).  As all universities, the classrooms are the most important part of the university.  It is what students pay the big bucks for!  The Lecture Halls all house six rooms that seat 100+ students.  Make sure you go to the bathroom before class, because there are only bathrooms in two halls.  The men’s bathroom is in one hall and women’s is in another.  The other halls all have three floors with several classrooms on each floor.  Douglas, Grant, and Lincoln Halls are all very modern.  The buildings are all windows and are connected from the second and third floors.  Grant Hall houses the Writing Center which is free help to students with whatever writing projects that have going on.  Also, the language departments have labs in Grant.  I have never been in Grant, but I have classes in Douglas and Lincoln.  They look exactly the same on the outside, but once you get inside…not so much!  Douglas is so much more advanced.  When I walked in for the first time, my immediate reaction was that it was sort of futuristic looking!  It is hard to explain, but the glass with the metal accents and individual little study rooms gave me that vibe. The second floor of Douglas has a café.  The BAT Cave is made up of three older buildings.  They look gloomy on the outside and the inside is not much different.  Every time I am in Taft Hall I want to get out as soon as possible (and no, not because I do not want to go to class!).  The classrooms and lecture halls are contributing to the mission statement by giving the wide range of students that attend UIC the environment to learn from their teachers.

Commons West

 

     The Residence Halls are arguably the most important part of campus to those students dorming at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  There are six residence halls: Commons North (CMN), Commons South (CMS), Commons West (CMW), Courtyard (CTY), James Strukel Towers (JST) and Marie Robinson Hall (MRH).  Commons North, South, West and Courtyard are all connected and are relatively close to classes.  JST and MRH are further away on campus and are surrounding by shops and cafes. James Stukel was the fifteenth president of the University of Illinois.  Marie Robinson was a student affairs administrator and worked hard to make UIC change from being known as a commuter campus into a college with residents. Dorming is a very important part of the college experience.  It becomes a student’s first home away from home and teaches them responsibilities.  Most importantly, though, the dorms allow students from all over the world to attend UIC.

     The Richard J. Daley Library is a place that all UIC students need to get acquainted with.  There are endless amounts of resources and people willing to help you out!  It is a nice place to study or read because, well, it is a library.  The Idea Commons has really nice study areas.  There are comfy chairs with mesh curtains to separate your study group from the others in the library.  Also, the walls are white boards!  How cool is that?!  You don’t even need to bring your own markers – the reception desk lends them out.  There are also several computers available for use to students and others.  Students just have to flash their I-Cards and non-UIC students must sign in.  During finals week, the library is open 24/7.  The library allows students to reach their highest potential in their classes, which the mission statement hopes of students.

     We can take full advantage of everything the University of Illinois at Chicago has to offer.  If you look closely enough, you can easily see how every aspect of UIC helps support its mission statement.  Take a minute to explore UIC and see what the place that you will be spending the next four years at has to offer and take full advantage of it!