Classrooms have state-of-the-art technology upgrades. Photo by Stuart Cahill

Students taking classes in Aldrich Hall this year can literally place one foot in the past and one in the future where the old and newly renovated halves of the building meet on each of the three floors.

To avoid disrupting classes, facilities planners arranged to renovate half of Aldrich’s aging, antiquated classrooms last summer, with the remainder slated for an upgrade next summer. “The challenge is that there’s no room for error in completing the work,” says Frank Hayes (PMD 75, 2000), chief of operations at HBS. “Classes have to start on time.”

In the first stage starting last June, workers replaced desks, chairs, and other classroom fixtures and widened the front of the rooms by six feet. The classrooms also got state-of-the-art technology upgrades, says CIO Judy Stahl (MBA ’96). “Building on what we’ve learned from Hawes Hall, the technology in the newly renovated Aldrich classrooms provides faculty with three projection zones, audio- and video-conferencing capabilities, an in-room camera for recording classroom sessions, at-seat student polling, and wireless network access,” explains Stahl.

“We’re trying to use technology to bring the outside world into the classrooms, and also take the classrooms to the outside world,” she adds.

Professor Janice Hammond recently took advantage of the technology improvements by bringing the CEO of UPS, Michael Eskew, into her Aldrich classroom via videoconferencing, allowing instant interact with students. While it takes practice to learn how to use all the new technology, “it’s a lot easier than one might expect,” says Hammond. “There’s a lot of upside in how we teach and how we use this to help our students grow.”

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