EDMOND — In January 1893, classes were first held in Old North, an iconic building in which many Oklahoma teachers were educated.

University of Central Oklahoma administrators Thursday dedicated the university’s brand new Transformative Learning Center, and President W. Roger Webb said he expects it too will become an iconic building representing a new way of educating students.

Old North represented a commitment by the state, and teachers during the decades that followed its dedication understood the era in which they taught, the need of the population and their students’ future opportunities, Webb said.

“They were relevant to their times,” he said.

In classroom design and teaching delivery methods, not much has changed since, Webb said.

“That was the Industrial Age. This is the Digital Age, or whatever you want to call it,” he said. “While those methods worked pretty good for that student, we are recognizing that today’s student is different, a different kind of learner. And it’s not that they’re coming here. They are here.”

The roughly $8.5 million, 33,000-square-foot structure, paid for by a 2005 bond issue, contains instruction space, faculty office space, a recital hall, an outdoor classroom and several informal spaces to encourage transformative learning.

Webb praised his executive staff and others involved in the development of the center. He singled out UCO Provost Bill Radke.

Radke said the center represents another “big step” for what UCO can offer its students, and every college is represented in the new building.

“They really come to us for just a couple of reasons,” he said. “One is to realize a dream. And the other one is transform their lives.”

Radke said the Center for Transformative Learning is embodied by what UCO calls the “Central Six” — discipline knowledge; leadership; problem solving (research, scholarly and creative activities); service learning and civic engagement; global and cultural competencies; and health and wellness.

UCO understands that today’s college graduates will likely change careers half a dozen times because what they have learned is obsolete, Radke said. UCO wants to give them additional tools that will help them be successful in whatever career path they pursue, he said.

Transformative learning is also about faculty, and the classrooms in the center are called “state of the art learning centers,” designed to create an environment of discussion and of engagement, Radke said.

“It’s a place where faculty are encouraged to employ the very latest techniques in teaching and learning,” he said.

UCO accepts that learning styles vary from student to student, and the way they learn is much different today from even recent years, Radke said. The totally wireless building contains breakout rooms and areas for interaction on projects.

The design encourages faculty to give up lecture and to become a resource for and facilitator of student learning, Radke said. Faculty chosen for this “experiment” are “up to speed” on the latest methods of teaching and learning, and agreed to integrate at least one of the Central Six in the center, he said.

Glenn Johnson, CEO of the state’s higher education system, said through the center learning opportunities for state students will be enhanced. It’s no surprise that UCO enrollment numbers are at an all-time high, Johnson said.

“I think it’s very clear that the University of Central Oklahoma continues to set the bar, to set that bar very high when it comes to innovation and creativity and educational excellence and leadership,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the 2005 bond issue was passed through the efforts of lawmakers including state Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, and state Rep. Marian Cooksey, R-Edmond, who both attended the ceremony.

Jolley, a frequent champion of education causes, said Old North was called the Territorial Normal School, established to transform the lives of the students who came.

“We celebrate very much the same spirit and the same idea here today,” Jolley said.

Other dignitaries included several higher ed regents, City Council member Elizabeth Waner and Edmond Mayor Patrice Douglas. Webb said Edmond is an ideal setting for a university, and he appreciates working with a mayor like Douglas.

Douglas said Edmond is a vibrant city, due in part to partnerships like the one with UCO, which in recent times has, in addition to the CTL, dedicated the Forensic Science Center.

“When you think about innovation, I think you probably think about Edmond and UCO,” Douglas said.

Mayors of other cities often ask her about how that city-university partnership developed so harmoniously, she said.

“I tell them that we never even thought about having a fight,” Douglas said. “We always thought about partnering. We know that it takes both of us to make this city work. We know that it takes partnerships.”

Douglas said she believes it will take additional partnerships to maintain Edmond’s momentum.



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