Physics Undergraduate Reading Room & Collaboration Center
LeConte Hall, University of California, Berkeley
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Physics Reading Room and Collaboration project provides a coordinated Reading Room, collaboration/meeting space and Student Services areas for Physics undergraduate students. The project involved the conversion of 2,200 s.f. on the first floor of Le Conte Hall on the Berkeley campus. to provide The area is approximately 2,100 ASF. The project is designed to enhance the undergraduate experience by supporting study, active learning, mentoring, advising, diversity and community for undergraduates.
In order to increase awareness of students passing in the corridors on their way to and from lectures and classes to the opportunities for study, meeting and collaboration offered by the space, a new glass entrance opens the new space to view. The reading room and collaboration center includes a quiet room for study and coursework, an open space for discussions and community building, and a partially-enclosed space for peer-to-peer counseling. Student group space accommodates undergraduate student groups, including the Society of Women in Physical Sciences, the Society for Physics Students, the Compass Project to Improve Undergraduate Education in Physics and the Berkeley Connect Mentoring Program. These active groups greatly contribute to the undergraduate experience as well as to the life of the Department. The center provides an easily identifiable "home" for undergraduate students in the Department.
The interest generated by the project has resulted in generous donations from Physics alumni and emeritus faculty. The Reading Room has been dedicated to the late, inspirational professor and mentor Harry H. Bingham. The meeting space has been dedicated to Professor Emeritus Y. Ron Shen.