For Lori Cortez, the Education and Human Services Building is changing the way teachers are being made.

Cortez, an adjunct professor of History at Saginaw Valley State University, is working on her doctorate at CMU. Having already taught at Mid-Michigan Community College and SVSU, Cortez is taking three classes on qualitative analysis on the weekends in the EHS Building.

“It’s very clean and efficient,” Cortez said. “I like how it’s made with green technology.”

The green technology has added many different elements, including bigger windows, to let in natural light. The four-story, $50 million building opened in 2009 to house the College of Education and Human Services and the Center for Charter Schools.

“The smart boards are great,” Cortez said. “The technology just takes some getting used to.”

The technology includes RoomWizards and CopyCams, which are meant to help the classroom learning process for students.

After taking a year off, Bay Port Graduate Student Brenda Gaeth returned to a new building with better accommodations for becoming a counselor.

“The openness of it was incredible,” Gaeth said. “I loved how everything was accessible. Loved the classes, as well.”

A professors perspective

The building’s resources also won over many professors.

Since the addition of the building, there have been training sessions to help the professors fully equip their students. Allowing for students, as well as the professors to interact with other colleges.

“Because we have such high technology, our students are able to get exposure,” said Marguerite Terrill, professor of Teacher Education and

Professional Development. “Through this, we are able to interact with other universities, which is professionally enriching.”

Terrill said the three of the major departments that deal with teacher education are Teacher Education and Professional Development, Counseling and Special Education, and Human Environmental Studies.

One thing the EHS Building did was to bring all three of these departments together. Before the move, TEPD was in Ronan Hall, CSE was in Rowe Hall and HEV in Wightman Hall.

“It’s wonderful — it’s been a great transition,” Terrill said.

E-mail the author: Tony Wittkowski