A space that once powered the university will soon empower students for generations to come.
At 1:30 p.m. Aug. 31, MSU will break ground on the new STEM Teaching and Learning Facility. The new structure at Shaw Lane and Red Cedar Road will include modern teaching laboratories that incorporate active learning principles and foster cross-disciplinary teaching and learning, as well as support developing and evolving changes in related curriculum and its delivery.
Pairing these areas with the renovation of the former Shaw Lane Power Plant will promote interdisciplinary and collaborative opportunities for research on teaching and learning, support the evolution of teaching and learning methods and create a campus hub across the sciences, arts and humanities.
“The new state-of-the-art STEM Teaching and Learning Facility will be one more reason why students should choose to study at MSU,” MSU Interim President John Engler said. “This amazing new facility will not only leverage the research being conducted at MSU on STEM teaching and learning, but also will facilitate scientific interactions at the undergraduate student level and enhance the university’s ability to successfully compete for and retain talented students.”
Located at Red Cedar Road and Shaw Lane, the 117,000-square-foot structure will house undergraduate teaching laboratories, project laboratories and breakout space that will support gateway courses for biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, physics and engineering.
Renovation work already has begun on the former Shaw Lane Power Plant.
The project began in October 2015 when the Board of Trustees authorized planning for the Strategic Academic Development Initiative—a framework to continue investments supporting student success, aligning with state and national priorities to graduate more students in STEM-related fields. During the past 10 years, enrolled credit hours in science, technology, engineering and math-related courses at MSU have increased by nearly 40 percent.