Mar 28, 2024  
2012-2014 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2012-2014 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

The Campus and Facilities


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The 105-acre campus of Providence College, situated in Rhode Island’s capital city, is removed from the traffic and noise of the metropolitan area but remains close to the many cultural and educational offerings of Providence, a city that is enjoying a lively urban renaissance. The city is located only an hour’s drive from Boston and just a few hours’ drive from New York City. Interstate bus, train, and air transportation are conveniently available.

The Providence College campus provides a variety of living, learning, and recreational facilities in an environment that promotes students’ academic and personal growth, as well as their safety and security. A campus shuttle bus provides transportation from campus to adjacent neighborhoods and locations in downtown Providence. Students may access the city of Providence and the entire state by utilizing the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority (RIPTA) free of charge by showing their student identification card.

Academic Facilities

Classroom and laboratory facilities are found in Accinno Hall, Albertus Magnus Hall, the Ceramics Building, the Feinstein Academic Center, Harkins Hall (also the main administration building), Hickey Hall, Howley Hall, Hunt-Cavanagh Hall, Koffler Hall, Moore Hall (which serves as the center for the Development of Western Civilization Program), Phillips Memorial Library, St. Catherine of Siena Hall, Smith Center for the Arts, Sowa Hall, and Sullivan Hall. A new state-of-the-art Ruane Center for the Humanities is anticipated to open in Fall 2013.

Smith Center for the Arts

This 2 1/2-story building serves as the premier teaching and performance facility for undergraduates enrolled in performing arts courses or participating in extracurricular activities involving music, theatre, and dance. The primary performance venues are the 283-seat Angell Blackfriars Theatre and the 272-seat Ryan Concert Hall. Teaching spaces include a “black box” studio theatre, the Bowab Studio Theatre; the Higgins Clark Dance Studio; a 20-keyboard piano lab; a film-screening classroom; a music library; and choral and instrumental practice rooms. The building also contains the Reilly Art Gallery, as well as offices, conference rooms, and storage areas for the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Film and the Department of Music.

Technology Classrooms/Facilities

Nearly all of the College’s general use classrooms are equipped with multimedia technologies. These classrooms have the latest in audio, visual, computer, and Web connectivity to enhance the instructional environment.  Most classrooms have wireless network access as well.

Technology facilities are located in buildings across the campus. Accinno Hall houses four computer laboratories. Additional computer labs for PC faculty, staff, and students are found in Albertus Magnus Hall, Howley Hall, and Koffler Hall.

Desktop Technology

Providence College is focused on providing anytime-anywhere access to information. With CyberFriar, the main Web interface with the College’s administrative database, students can manage their personal and academic records from their desktops or laptops. They can register for courses, view address and personal information, view mid-term and final grades, view all financial aid and billing information on their accounts, view and request academic transcripts, and monitor their progress toward completion of their degree requirements.

With Sakai, a learning management system used in nearly all undergraduate courses, students have another way to communicate with faculty members, participate in online discussion groups, check course syllabi, submit papers, and efficiently manage their class work.

Athletics, Recreational & Leisure Facilities

Joe Mullaney Gymnasium in Alumni Hall, Schneider Arena, Peterson Recreation Center, the Marjorie D. Lennon and Rev. Joseph L. Lennon, O.P. Field, (an artificial-turf field), and various other outdoor playing fields provide the focus for both intercollegiate and intramural athletics on campus. The Dunkin’ Donuts Center, with a seating capacity of just under 12,000, serves as the home court for the men’s basketball team.

Recreational leisure facilities are also found in Slavin Center, PC’s student union, which houses McPhail’s Entertainment Facility, Dunkin’ Donuts, and the entrance to the Alumni Hall Food Court. Those facilities, plus various lounges and club offices, offer students places to relax between classes or to study with friends.

Concannon Fitness Center

The Concannon Fitness Center is a 23,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility that serves the fitness needs and well-being of students, student-athletes, faculty, and staff. Opened in fall 2007, the center specializes in cardiovascular and strength training. The center offers 13,850 square feet of dedicated fitness space on two levels for use by the general College community and a 3,600-square-foot varsity weight room for student-athletes.

Balfour Office of Multicultural Activities

Aligned with the College mission, the Balfour Office of Multicultural Activities (BOMA) collaborates with faculty, staff, administrators, and student leaders to plan and promote programs and activities for all students to deepen their intercultural understanding, skills, and maturity through cultivating intentional relationships; examining historical, theological, and biblical perspectives about diversity; and serving locally and globally for mutual benefit. The office coordinates a Peer Mentor Program, as well as the annual “Connecting Horizons” Multicultural Fall Retreat for freshman multicultural and international students. The Balfour Office of Multicultural Affairs’ Unity Center is located in the lower level of the Slavin Center. Please search “Balfour” on the College’s Web site for more information.

Campus Chapels

Providence College encourages the spiritual and intellectual growth of each student. St. Dominic Chapel and the Campus Ministry Center are the center of spiritual life on campus. Additional places of prayer are the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary in the St. Thomas Aquinas Priory-Gragnani Dominican Center, the principal Dominican residence on campus, and the oratories in Harkins and Siena halls.

Center for Catholic and Dominican Studies

The Center for Catholic and Dominican Studies is located in the former Aquinas Chapel. Administratively, the center is part of the Office of Mission and Ministry and, in collaboration with the Office of the Chaplain/Campus Ministry, it assists in coordinating the collegewide process of maintaining, enhancing, and promoting the distinctive mission of Providence College as a Catholic and Dominican college.

Believing that we are called to be transformed so that we may transform society, the center serves as a place of intellectual exploration and dialogue where students, faculty, staff, administration, and alumni can gather for study, discussion, reflection, and service.

Through a variety of events and educational opportunities for the College community, the center strives to share the richness and diversity of the Catholic and Dominican intellectual and spiritual traditions, which offer crucial perspectives for today’s challenges and concerns and invite us together to partake of and benefit from a common mission inspired by faith and enabled by grace.

Phillips Memorial Library

The Phillips Memorial Library is at the heart of the College’s intellectual life, and the main areas of the library are architecturally impressive and recently renovated.
 
The library maintains a collection of approximately 383,900 print volumes and over 400,000 electronic books. Patrons have access to approximately 815 current print periodical subscriptions and more than 39,000 full-text electronic journals. The library also offers an extensive collection of print and electronic reference materials, including more than 120 bibliographic and full-text electronic databases, the third-largest collection of electronic databases in Rhode Island (after Brown University and the University of Rhode Island). In addition, the library houses the Providence College Special and Archival Collections, several academic departments, and the Office of Academic Services.
 
The library is also a member of the HELIN (Higher Education Library Information Network) consortium, which gives students and faculty two-day access to over 6 million volumes from any of 10 collegiate libraries in Rhode Island. In addition, the library’s interlibrary loan service connects students to worldwide resources free of charge.
 
The Phillips Memorial Library provides robust access to the College’s wireless network. In the Library Commons tradition, the library offers 89 public access desktop computers, sophisticated digitization resources in Digital Publishing Services and Macintosh labs throughout the library, 32 PC and Macintosh laptops, 14 iPads with Web access for check-out, collaboration facilities in the TecHub, technology support in the TechStation, a presentation rehearsal/recording room, and an extensive array of productivity software, as well as an 18-computer electronic classroom. The
library accommodates approximately 900 students in quiet and group-study areas.
 
For more information, including library hours, call 401.865.2242 or visit the Library Web site.

Residential Facilities

Campus residential facilities include traditional dormitory housing as well as suite and apartment-style units. These facilities accommodate approximately 3,000 students.

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