Filled with 80-inch touch-screen monitors and the latest smart-classroom technology, Utah State University’s new Distance Education building in Logan officially opened Wednesday, Oct. 3 with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Governor Gary Herbert. The new building connects over 100 USU-Moab campus students to the university’s Logan and regional campuses, providing access to over 700 courses and 48 different degrees.
“This provides our students and citizens with greater access to higher education,” said Steve Hawks, dean and executive director of USU-Moab and southwest region. “The technology in this new building gives a student an incredible education with access to an entire university system without leaving Grand County.”
Featuring state-of-the-art classrooms filled with interactive video conferencing broadcast equipment and digital technology, the Distance Education building represents USU’s fulfillment of its land grant university mission to deliver higher education throughout Utah regardless of geographic location.
“It’s a new way to learn,” Governor Herbert. “It exemplifies a lot of things we are trying to do to be more innovative in our approach to education, and creative in how we link people to education.”
The 40,000 square foot building follows Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) guidelines. The Utah Education Network also houses a technical support center in the building to monitor and serve its entire network.
