Press Releases
Center is the University System's Newest "Green" Building
ROCKVILLE, Md. (November 9, 2007) - Governor Martin O'Malley and other dignitaries were on hand today for a ribbon cutting to mark the opening of the Camille Kendall Academic Center at the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) in Rockville. The Kendall Center was recently recognized as a "Public Building of the Year" by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) of Maryland for its leading-edge green design. Its opening triples the enrollment capacity of USG to 6,000 students and doubles its facility space to accommodate more programs and faculty to meet the region's expanding workforce education needs.
"The opening of the Camille Kendall Academic Center is a true milestone for the university system on two fronts," said William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland (USM). "Through its green design, it marks the system's commitment to sustainable practices that help address the challenges of global climate change. It also testifies to the success of our regional higher education center concept that is bringing programs from our various universities to locations where they are critically needed and better serve our citizens."
"The Camille Kendall Academic Center is a wonderful achievement for the State of Maryland and for the University System," said Governor O'Malley. "This building is proof that we can accommodate a growing education system, and at the same time, create a building from materials that help improve and sustain our environment and the lives of generations to come."
Governor O'Malley and Chancellor Kirwan were joined at the ribbon cutting by James Mannarino, chair of the USG Board of Advisors; Chris Van Hollen, U. S. Representative, Maryland 8th Congressional District; Isiah Leggett, Montgomery County Executive; Stewart Edelstein, executive director of USG; John Arcilla, a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park's Robert H. Smith School of Business Program at USG; and Clifford Kendall, chair of the USM Board of Regents, and his wife Camille, for whom the new academic center is named. The Kendalls have long been advocates for USG and recently donated $3 million through the auspices of their family fund to endow scholarships for USG students.
The 192,000-square-foot center adds 45 smart classrooms, 10 computer classrooms, two open computer labs, two distance learning classrooms, 81 faculty offices, and a 20,000-square-foot library and media center to the USG campus. It has received LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold-level certification by incorporating green features such as roof gardens, an energy-conserving HVAC system, recycled building materials, and the use of sustainable materials such as wheat board, cork walls, bamboo flooring, and banana fiber tables.
"With the opening of the Camille Kendall Academic Center we plan to bring new degree programs to USG in healthcare, education, engineering, and technology-related fields among others that are critical to the region's continued economic growth," noted Edelstein.
The Universities at Shady Grove is an innovative model for expanding access to quality higher education in the Montgomery County region. USG is not one university-it is eight of Maryland's top public universities providing full- and part-time upper-division undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs at one central location. Participating USM institutions include Bowie State University; Towson University; University of Baltimore; University of Maryland, Baltimore; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; University of Maryland, College Park; University of Maryland Eastern Shore; and University of Maryland University College.
For directions to USG, visit: http://www.shadygrove.umd.edu/about/directions/
USM
Governed by a 17-member Board of Regents, the University System of Maryland includes 13 institutions: Bowie State University; Coppin State University; Frostburg State University; Salisbury University; Towson University; University of Baltimore; University of Maryland, Baltimore; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; University of Maryland, College Park; University of Maryland Eastern Shore; University of Maryland University College; University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute; and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. USM institutions also offer programs at the system's two regional higher education centers: Universities at Shady Grove and the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown.
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