Designing a world class facility at ORU

Flipped classroom concept, Stephen Guzman

My thoughts on designing a world class facility.

Before the project

I had a different title. I was a Digital and Creative Designer. My responsibilities involved graphics for the IT department and bringing emerging technologies to the campus I serve. Here and there I would receive an assignment that had some real responsibility. My first actual project was to put a TV on a wall. Simple as it sounds there was more involved than just putting it on the wall. I learned a lot from that small project. Valuable skills about client communication, proper setup for install, install-vendor communication, and sometimes sleep deprivation. Soon came word of a new project that IT would be heavily involved with. We were building a facility that would change the way we did education forever. Wow, what an exciting time to be where I was! This could be a great resume addition, if I got to be a part. The time came for someone to be responsible for designing the building’s classrooms and what we overall put into it. IT received the call from among high to create a state-of-the-art learning environment. Who was to dream up this symbol of excellence? None other than myself. With a new title, Project Manager, I lead the design of the greatest facility in Oklahoma, The ORU Global Learning Center.

Early on:

From spending four years in college and then supporting classrooms two years after with IT. I understood the shortfalls that come with higher education classrooms. There is largely a lack of telepresence ability, no great audio options, lecture capture is a hassle, classrooms don’t have the ability to change quickly, students don’t have an easy way to charge their devices, professors don’t know how to use classroom equipment, etc. After acknowledging that these and other items needed addressing, the research was more focused. if the GLC was to be world class we would need to champion these shortfalls. Looking at what other universities were doing I gained an idea of what was expected. Then I looked at what they lacked. The result is classrooms that can go toe to toe with any educational space around the world.

We also wanted to make the GLC special. Jon Ive, who I admire, says this “It’s easy to make something different, it’s hard to do something better.”. With that thought we went for the next leading technology – Virtual Reality. Then in early 2015, virtual reality was still trying to be proven to be an asset in education. Our CIO, Mike Mathews, believed that VR would propel education to new heights. He and I researched different companies and avenues for VR that would be able to benefit students around the globe. EON Reality emerged as the champion for VR in our new facility.

mid project

working with vendors for requirements they would need was somewhat a new feeling. I had always been able to do everything on my own without need of others interacting. It was very overwhelming but I drew strength from my Army training, “always forward.” Doubt can get the best of any person but our CIO always says projects fail in the beginning and the end. Well we weren’t even at the end. In the middle of the project we were finalizing contracts and making sure we loved our investment. Many financial spreadsheets were made. Change orders were considered and sometimes had to happen. There came a time when some of my colleagues in the IT department got involved. Make no mistake about my ability to perform under pressure. I came out of basic training ready for more, I received an Army achievement medal for a perfect PT score, never had it easy growing up. However, if a war could be won with one person there would be no need for an army. So I needed some help from my fellow comrades in IT with more technical questions that sometimes sounded like Spanish. For example - do you want a  two gang outlet or a quad gang outlet? I had no idea. Guys like Ron Lee and Peter Kovaleski added a whole lot of value to the operation.

end of project

Projects fail in the beginning and in the end so since we made it past the beginning and made it to the end, I knew this was it. If it was going to fail it was going to be now. We had gone through changes in the plans ranging from electric to classroom orientation. More pressure from faculty was evident for a world class facility that would support them. What that meant for me was that I needed to step up even more. We coordinated more with vendors, we supported the vendors anyway we could to not let the project slow. Some of our IT team came to the building on the weekend to do some cleanup to support the carpet installs and other things starting the next week.

The best way to describe the end of the project is a rock rolling downhill. Walls were getting buttoned up, the VR room was up and running, it was amazing to watch. Imagine the end of a puzzle when there’s only 5 pieces left and their locations are obvious. As we watched the pieces fall into place we started to realize what we had on our hands. Something that was going to last generations and effect education at ORU forever.

We found that what needed to happen regularly was preventative maintenance check and services (PMCS) on equipment for quality assurance. The VR equipment had different needs than the classrooms. With over 5 systems in the VR room we needed a way to keep everything efficient. So we tested the worst case scenarios with the equipment and found a way to create a thriving ecosystem for our VR room

With the building finished it is apparent that the Global Learning Center is a special place. With world class classroom technology with an emphasis on flipped classroom setups and a VR showroom to supplement what our professors are already teaching, there isn’t a place in the world that can rival it.

Some suggestions for those with a similar goal for a facility

·      Ask your fellow IT staff for help in the beginning

·      Seek out those that have done a similar project. 

·      Dream bigger, you’ll shine brighter

Stephen Guzman, Project Manager, sguzman@oru.edu, 918-495-6503