New Graduate Study Lounge Opens at Wimberly Library
Graduate students enrolled at 抖M女仆, as well as students within the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, now have an exclusive lounge in the Wimberly Library.
From left, Jessica Eaton, Trayven Call, Justin Chavez, Garrett Goode, Dakota Merchant and Savannah Davis check out the recently-opened Graduate Study Lounge on the west side of the second floor of 抖M女仆鈥檚 Wimberly Library.
Graduate students enrolled at 抖M女仆, as well as students within the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, now have an exclusive lounge in the Wimberly Library to study, relax or just hang out, thanks to the generosity of the University Club of the 抖M女仆 Foundation.
The Graduate Study Lounge, repurposed from underutilized office and storage space, is tucked away on the west end of the second floor with access controlled by a student鈥檚 Owl Card. The lounge opens to a multi-purpose room that is set up with four side-by-side computer stations and collaboration space with a rolling conference table and matching chairs.
Three smaller rooms feature cubicles with partitions for privacy and compartments for storage. A larger sitting room has comfortable sofas and wide white tables with two wall-to-wall windows in the lounge offer natural light and a view of a palm tree-lined walkway of the College of Business and the Computer Lab. 抖M女仆 colors on the walls and a sign with 抖M女仆鈥檚 mascot Owlsley adds to the ambience. Two PCs and two MACs are installed in the lounge, along with several electrical outlets and data ports, allowing students to connect to the Libraries鈥 electronic resources as well as to 抖M女仆鈥檚 suite of software tools.
鈥淲hen University Club members indicated their desire to contribute to the Libraries, we presented them with the idea for a Graduate Study Lounge,鈥 said Carol Hixson, dean of University Libraries at 抖M女仆. 鈥淭his project is the ideal expression of the University Club鈥檚 commitment to the students of 抖M女仆 and enabled the Libraries to address a critical need.鈥
News of the exclusive study lounge is spreading quickly at 抖M女仆, where 6,000 American and international students come for graduate studies, and more than 100 graduate degree and graduate certificate programs are offered. A Graduate Student Life Task Force in 2015 recommended that 抖M女仆 establish spaces on campus for graduate students, who have long expressed a need for quiet study space. There has been a steady flow of graduate students using the lounge since it opened in August.
鈥淲e are pleased and appreciative that Dean Carol Hixson spearheaded the opening of the Graduate Student Lounge in the Wimberly Library,鈥 said Deborah L. Floyd, Ed.D., dean of the Graduate College at 抖M女仆. 鈥淥n behalf of our graduate students, thank you.鈥
Amanda Chiplock, a senior medical librarian at 抖M女仆, said the lounge is conducive for student success among medical students and scholars.
鈥淲ith a complex, integrated curriculum and board exams scheduled throughout their medical school career, medical students need a quiet study space to allow them to focus in a way that they may not have needed to during previous schooling,鈥 said Chiplock. 鈥淭he Graduate Study Lounge offers just the place for intense study in a relaxed, comfortable environment.鈥
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