CSUSB Trustees Approve Design for Global Innovation Center

SAN BERNARDINO>> The College of Extended Learning at California State University, San Bernardino is getting a new home. The California State University Board of Trustees recently approved the design plans for the new building, named the Center for Global Innovation (CGI). At $55 million and 71,000 square feet over three floors, the CGI will be the home for all instructional needs and administrative operations for the College of Extended Learning, including all international student programs. In addition, the CGI will include 19,000 square feet of additional instructional space for general university use located in the center of the campus. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2018, with completion targeted for fall 2019. “As the name indicates, one of the primary goals of the Center for Global Innovation is to centralize services provided to our international student populations, both for those visiting and those who have matriculated at CSUSB,” University President Tomás D. Morales shared with the CSU trustees recently. “Currently at CSUSB, international programs are scattered around the campus where space could be found and our students have, for some time, asked for a more centralized location on campus where they can better assimilate with the general student population and have improved access to campus services such as the library, student union, and food services,” said Tatiana Karmanova, College of Extended Learning Dean. In addition to classrooms and administrative offices, the Center of Global Innovation will include study lounges, a 250-seat auditorium, indoor/outdoor campus event spaces, and retail food services. Sustainable building features will include extensive use of natural lighting and ventilation, energy efficient LED lighting with smart lighting controls, water efficient plumbing fixtures, and glazed windows. “The Center for Global Innovation will serve as an iconic centerpiece to an evolving central core at CSUSB for enhanced student and academic life, guided by our exciting new university master plan,” said Vice President for Administration and Finance, Doug Freer. “Due to its premier location on the campus, the Center for Global Innovation will provide badly needed additional instruction space to accommodate expanding student enrollments in all our nearby colleges.” The Center for Global Innovation project joins an aggressive physical expansion plan to the CSUSB campus, joining the ongoing construction of 164,000 square feet of new residence halls and a dining complex (opening fall 2018) and a recently student-approved 100,000 square feet expansion of the Santos Manuel Student Union (scheduled to open fall 2021).