State Sen. Richard Devlin was so impressed by Oregon State’s new Learning Innovation Center, Austin Hall’s new neighbor to the north, that “it actually makes me want to come back.”
“I’d like to get that degree in history I always wanted, that degree in English literature,” said the lawmaker, one of many speakers Sept. 22 during grand opening ceremonies for the LInC, a 134,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art classroom building.
LInC features 2,300 seats of formal teaching space and another 640 seats in student-directed informal learning areas. The $65 million project, paid for by a mix of state funds and out-of-state tuition dollars, is intended to serve every academic department on campus and is the new headquarters for the University Honors College.
Cassie Huber, president of the Associated Students of OSU, said, “Everyone I know has been talking about attending classes in this building.” Two of LInC’s classrooms are in-the-round style, one with a capacity of 600, the other 300. There’s also the curved Parliament Room, which was inspired by the layout of the British House of Commons and seats 175 more.
Classrooms were designed with collaboration and active learning in mind, allowing lecturers to easily roam and engage students directly.
Devlin noted that when considering requests for funding, he and his fellow legislators always think in terms of will it pay back more than it costs.
“The tens of thousands of students who will pass through this building will provide an excellent return for generations to come,” he said.
