Spaces for studious students

USD announces plans for a building on the field behind Copley library

Amy Inkrott / News Editor / The USD Vista

As the second round of midterms approaches, some students at the University of San Diego scramble to find a quiet place to study, only to discover that nearly every spot is already occupied. The tables in Copley Library are full, seats at Aromas and outside Tu Merc seem to be rarely vacant, and many of the classrooms are locked. 

On Sept. 21, the USD administration held a forum to announce their plan to construct a new Learning Commons building in place of the field behind Copley Library as an effort to provide more study spaces for students.

This new building promises 12 additional classrooms and a variety of lounges and study spaces for students. 

Vice Provost Thomas Herrinton hopes that the Learning Commons will become a popular space for both students and faculty.

“This is a building for students to have a place where they can study or hang out in between classes or in the evenings,” Herrinton said. “We know that students want more academic spaces… I hope this is where people want to be teaching and learning.”

The Learning Commons will provide the school with a unique space for the first-year Living Learning Community (LLC) themes. A double classroom with 80 seats will be available for joint sessions of the LLC classes, allowing both students and faculty to further explore an integration between their disciplines. Another part of the building will be reservable for large events. Herrinton hopes that this space will be used for LLC-wide events, such as guest speakers. 

The administration intends that  the features of the Learning Commons will be home to the Writing Center and Honors Program. Since many of the courses taught in this building will be core curriculum, Herrinton believes it is important to have these resources in an easily accessible location for students to utilize. 

Additionally, an outdoor plaza space is included in the plans. In the past, outside seating and tables have been widely popular among students. 

However, the planned Learning Commons’ plaza has caused some controversy among the community. The podocarpus tree that currently occupies the Copley field cuts significantly into the plaza’s available space. The administration proposed three different plans for the space, two of which include the preservation of the tree.

The building is expected to be open 24 hours a day, giving students unlimited access to the available study spaces. Although it will be locked at 11 p.m., students will be able to key into the building with their Torero ID card. The building’s construction alone is expected to cost $17 million, funded with the money left over from the university’s current operations. However, the administration hopes that the school’s donors will contribute to the overall cost of the Learning Commons.

This new space is intended to provide students with additional places to study in order to further their academic success. USD will break ground on the Learning Commons in May of 2019. 

The administration hopes the project will be complete and available to students by the fall semester of 2020.