UC East Expansion Includes Cyber Café and Biology Lab

UC Clermont College completed a 17,000 square-foot expansion at UC East that includes a new manufacturing lab, Computer-aided design (CAD) and biology labs and a cyber café. UC East opened in 2010 and offers state-of –the-art classroom space in the repurposed former Ford plant.

In the two short years since its opening, the campus has grown to support academic offerings for more than 1200 students. This growth created a real need for better food service, open computer lab access and more dedicated lab space. 
 
Renovation of the space in the Ford connector building began in 2012. This is the building that connects the front building to the rest of the old Ford plant. It offered the college a perfect footprint to set aside dedicated space for elevated food service, the computer labs, a new manufacturing lab and a spacious biology lab to support the Allied Health programs hosted at UC East. Adding the biology lab eliminates the need to send students back to the main UC Clermont Campus for these courses.
 
The centerpiece of the renovated connector space is the new Konnekt Cyber Café. “As we designed the space we came up with the idea of creating a multipurpose café where people could go to ‘connect’ with each other and ‘connect’ to the internet while grabbing a bite to eat. It was also appropriate that these connections were being made in a space in the former Ford Connector building,” said Assistant Dean of Facilities and Technology Services Steve Young. 
 

The Konnekt Cyber Café name was chosen from among many submitted by faculty, staff and students at UC East during the fall semester naming contest. “We wanted to have a unique spelling for the café name. So we looked at the words, Cyber and Cybernetics, then we went back and looked at the Greek spelling or root of those terms. They are based on the Greek words Kyberre or Kybernan. In keeping with the style of the Greek words, we were led to the spelling of Konnekt,” said Young.

The first phase of the Konnekt Cyber Café at UC East is complete with space for students to socialize, connect wirelessly to the internet or use the dedicated computers anytime the campus is open. Phase two will incorporate food service in the spring.

The color scheme and photos on the wall pay tribute to the history of those who worked at the former Ford Plant. We wanted to design a space that had the feel of a comfortable coffee shop yet still provided a link to the many years of work done there by Ford employees. “We know that many students at that campus are there for an entire day and vending level service just doesn’t cut it. Providing food service above and beyond vending was always a goal for the UC East campus,” said Young,

Students, faculty and staff are anxiously waiting for the spring when the food service phase will begin and the café will be complete. The Konnekt Cyber Café will provide a comfortable eating, gathering and computing space for the UC East campus.

About UC East:

UC leases two floors of the former administrative building, consisting of 81,000 square feet of office space from private developer IRG. UC’s Clermont College uses the first floor of the space. It is home to UC Clermont College's Allied Health programs including: Surgical Assisting, Respiratory Therapy, Physical Therapist Assistant, EMS-Paramedic Certificate, Medical Assisting, and Multi-Skilled Health Technician. On the second floor, UC’s College of Nursing offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. The College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services offers Bachelor Degree completion programs in early childhood education, criminal justice and paralegal studies.

The College of Allied Health Sciences offers junior and senior courses from the Bachelor in Health Sciences degree through videoconferencing and onsite lab experiences at UC East.

Also, additional courses from the Department of Information Technology are being delivered from the campus’s new Mac lab.
 
New to UC East, Clermont College's very own bachelor's degree program. If you already hold a technical associate's degree (AAB, AAS), you can now complete your Bachelor of Applied Administration (BTAS). Most classes are at UC East (also offered at UC Blue Ash College). Visit the website: http://www.ucclermont.edu/btas.html