The New Student Experience
In recent years dramatic improvements In recent years dramatic improvements have been made in the campus environment, yet these changes have, for the most part, been tactical shifts executed on a yearly basis to respond to immediate needs. The Master Plan considers the campus strategically, thinking about change in the long term, suggesting a synthesis of initiatives which will differentiate the Columbia College Chicago experience from that of any other institution of higher education.
A student’s choice to study at Columbia College Chicago is inextricably wrapped in a choice to live in and experience the city of Chicago itself. A central premise of this plan and of Columbia 2010, is that the Columbia campus should continue to celebrate the character of the South Loop and the College’s broader urban setting. The challenge is to develop a distinctive identity and to offer a distinctive experience within this setting.
If a cohesive student experience is the end, then one of the important means to this end is the campus as the student understands it and uses it on a daily basis.
The Columbia campus has Grant Park as its front yard, a great urban green space. The front door of Columbia College Chicago will remain the historic 600 South Michigan building. Considered the Administrative Hub of the campus, 600 South Michigan is an impressive welcome for prospective students and will provide current students with an array of administrative services on the lower three levels of the building.
The Harrison Avenue CTA stop is Columbia’s back door – a place where, for thousands of students, their daily experience begins. The Master Plan enhances the sense that this is a gateway to the campus.
Wabash Avenue is the back yard of the campus. With the changes suggested in the plan, Wabash will become the campus’s center of gravity, establishing functional and visual connection from Congress to Roosevelt.
The hub of the activity along Wabash will be the new Campus Center at 8th and Wabash. The Campus Center will provide a critical point of exchange, drawing students from all disciplines. It will be the true center of the campus where an individual’s relationship to the whole can be most directly felt. It will be a place of collaboration, encounter and creative interaction.
To the north and to the south, Columbia will develop centers for studio and performance activities respectively: the Studio Hub and Performance Hub. These hubs re-think the campus along lines of artistic critical mass of activity – whether one’s work is shown or is performed.
It is this notion of layering a different organizational scheme across the campus that is intended to promote interaction between students (and faculty) of different departments. The Master Plan rejects isolation and embraces collaboration, sharing ideas and abilities, in its approach to providing future facilities.
As the College continues to grow, there are three things to keep in mind as essential elements of the student experience. First, the campus is part of the city and not a separate place. The College will become a greater presence in the South Loop, but it will never replace the neighborhood. Second, as the campus becomes more of a home to students and faculty, with places to live, work and experience the city, the sense of belonging to a creative community will be enhanced. Third, the campus will convey the sense that this is both a place to create and a place to present creative work in a collaborative environment.