Hello, everyone. My name is Mark Nystrom and I am the new director of facilities and operations at Harvard Divinity School.
I want to briefly introduce myself since I’ll be sharing information about the Swartz Hall renewal as we sprint toward the opening of the building in just a few weeks. I’ve enjoyed reading these updates from the now retired Ralph DeFlorio and I hope you’ll find the future ones just as useful and informative. I previously worked in operations and facilities at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School and am excited to join the HDS community.
We are a little more than two weeks away from new students arriving for orientation and just over three weeks away from the first day of classes. With students and faculty returning to a beautiful, totally renewed building, I want to share with you some of the new technological tools in Swartz Hall that will enhance the teaching and learning experience here.
For so long, we were in a century-old building with a design that wasn’t very modern and didn’t lend itself to current technology or ways of teaching. We made due, but now, the renewal has lead not only to the modernization of our existing classroom space, but also to additional classroom space. These new and redesigned spaces allow for a host of upgrades.
There are new projectors, monitors, cameras, and microphones. You can see some of these in place in the new multipurpose classroom, in the new multifaith space, and in a classroom in the pictures below.
The setup of these components was thoughtfully done not only to blend well into the classrooms, but also to enable remote participation when necessary. The placement of the equipment will facilitate superior two-way communication by best capturing people in the space so those on the far end can better see and hear what’s going on in the classroom and those in the classroom will be able to communicate with those not present. When we host events in these spaces, this equipment will also help us increase our global connections and facilitate intellectual exchanges with people from all over the world as we’ve seen happen over the last 18 months with our virtual events.
A brand new wireless network has been installed for the entire campus providing better coverage both inside and outside the buildings. New points of coverage were also installed to allow for better Internet access on the campus green. This is a great aspect as many community members will no doubt want to enjoy the new landscaping and new outdoor spaces, especially by the fireplace. You can see this in the image below taken by my colleague in operations Sue Reuther who recently ran into members of the Office of Admissions—Alessandra Luedeking and Odeviz Soto.
There are also new touch panel control systems that will make the user experience more consistent and easier for those using the audio-visual systems in HDS spaces. There will be several new video monitors located throughout the building to display event information and other important messages.
The technology upgrade also allows us to achieve our goals of increased accessibility and sustainability. Every classroom now has an assisted listening system and chargers for those systems allowing for greater ease of use. Many of the video display monitors are larger than they used to be, enabling greater visibility. And the building management systems are automated next generation controls, which means we can view statistics and have more insights into how the building space is being used and redesign and implement lighting, heating, cooling, etc., to increase the sustainability and efficiency of the building and reduce our footprint. Also, the implementation of the new Crimson Print program throughout campus will help reduce paper waste and overuse.
The strategic planning and implementation of this advanced technology was a collaborative effort of the Swartz project design team, our external AV partners, and the Offices of IT and Media Services and Operations. IT and Media Services will be hosting training sessions later this month for faculty and teaching staff to become familiar with all of the new technology in the classrooms prior to the fall term.
As Dan Hawkins, HDS’s chief information officer, recently put it, this effort was done to align with the needs of the School and the guiding principle of seamlessly integrating the latest technology in order to give our students and faculty the best possible teaching and learning experiences. He hopes these new systems and tools will serve as a model and standard for the rest of the campus. I couldn’t agree more and am excited and eager to see this technology in use very soon.
—Mark