Construction of the new School of Media and Public Affairs building is running close to schedule, with faculty planning to move into the building in the middle of fall semester and classes beginning January 2001, SMPA Director Jean Folkerts said.

The new building at the corner of 21st and H streets will house faculty offices, including SMPA, Public Management, Public Policy majors and the Graduate School of Political Management.

The new building will have state-of-the-art technological capabilities. Most classrooms will be wired with Internet access, Folkerts said. A television studio, editing suites and an audio-video center will be in the new building. The student media center will work out of the building, broadcasting on a cable channel and eventually Web broadcasting, she said.

A teleconferencing system will be implemented into one classroom, enabling distance-learning classes to take place.

There will be large conduits in different parts of the building, Folkerts said. As technology advances, we can keep upgrading.

In addition to basic and seminar-style classrooms, the SMPA building will house the Center for Survey Research, Folkerts said.

It will be wonderfully equipped with computers lining the walls of the room, she said.

Folkerts said the room will aid teaching because students can meet at a conference table in the center of the room for group discussions and then work individually at their own computers. The improvement for professors will be tremendous because now professors feel like they are teaching over the computers, Folkerts said.

GW alumnus Jack Morton donated $1 million, which will be used toward the auditorium in the new building. The donation was part of GW’s Centuries Campaign, a $500-million fund-raising effort, which will continue through 2003.

The facility will be capable of seating about 260 people and will have state-of-the-art broadcast facilities, production and recording capabilities. The auditorium, which will bear Morton’s name, will hold events such as campus productions and lectures.

CNN host Larry King also donated $1 million, which will go toward scholarships for SMPA students from disadvantaged backgrounds.