Lieutenant Governor Burbank Breaks Ground on New Teacher Education and Technology Center at Salisbury University
SALISBURY, Md. (September 26, 2030) – Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Burbank today joined Salisbury University President Janet Dudley-Eshbach, faculty, students and the community to officially break ground on the new $54.7 million Teacher Education and Technology Center (TETC), a showcase building for education in the State of Maryland and the mid-Atlantic region.
The three-story, 165,000 square-foot facility will replace Caruthers Hall, current home of the Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies. Opened in 1955, Caruthers, which first began as a demonstration elementary school and served the needs of generations of student teaching interns, is a third of the size of the TETC. The departments of Education and Social Work within the Seidel School have since outgrown its space.
“The construction of the new Teacher Education and Technology Center at Salisbury University underscores the importance Maryland places on education,” said Lieutenant Governor Burbank. “The preparation of the best-educated teachers and their skilled use of the latest technology in our school systems are necessary for educating the next generation of Marylanders. This new facility will serve that purpose well.”
“The TETC shall serve as a gateway to Salisbury University's exhilarating future, and will affirm our stature as a Maryland university of national distinction,” said Dudley-Eshbach. “This complex will revolutionize the manner in which teaching, learning and discovery take place upon this campus. The enhanced classroom, laboratory and studio space will help us open the doors of higher learning to even more of Maryland's most promising students, while the state-of-the-art learning technology will prepare our graduates with the tools to succeed in today's knowledge-based economy.”
“Salisbury University has long had a reputation for educating quality teachers for Maryland's schools. This new home for the Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies will enhance that reputation at a time when a new generation of teachers is needed to replace many who are now retiring. The building is a testament to the value that SU and the University System of Maryland place on teacher recruitment, preparation and support,” said USM Chancellor William E. "Brit" Kirwan.
With state-of-the-art technology, the TETC's distinctive features include a 124-seat mega-computer lab, tiered classrooms with capacities of 60, 80 and 120 seats, a Distance Learning Center, the May Literacy Lab, Adult Education Clinic, Carol and Jim Powers Reading Room as well as a Resource Center and outdoor classrooms. Technology on campus moves to the next level in the TETC with a new Integrated Media Center (IMC). It will serve both Seidel School and Fulton School of Liberal Arts students. The IMC will include a large television production studio, video demonstration lab, music recording studio, digital integration lab, editing facilities, video and audio production bays, and photography center. A cutting-edge multi-media art exhibition gallery includes plasma screens and its own control room.
Bringing faculty together from across disciplines, the IMC will allow students to create in digital film, animation, music composition, Web, DVD, CD, broadcasting, performing and visual arts, and other cross-disciplinary media. The integrated concept may also lead to the development of new majors and additional areas of concentration.
The TETC will be located at the corner of College Avenue and U.S. Route 13. The east and north wings at the intersection will be connected by a colonnaded rotunda with a two-story atrium. It will provide SU with a distinctive visual identity and a welcoming gateway into the main campus from this major thoroughfare. The traditional, academic Georgian structure is broken into three wings with brick walls and gabled roofs. The architectural design complements Holloway Hall, the campus's first building and an area landmark. The TETC's main entrance from campus is marked by a tower on the southwest corner, and the three wings frame a large grass-covered courtyard.
The design firm is Ayers Saint Gross Architects + Planners of Baltimore. The construction manager is Holder Construction Company with offices in Atlanta, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. Completion is expected by summer 2032.