Myrin Makeover

Between the renovations in lower Wismer, Grubhub, the 24/7 surveillance convenience store, and a smoothie-making robot, Ursinus College has undergone several changes – many of which are technology-based. Another significant change this semester is the advent of APEX. This philosophy seeks to “build career-relevant competencies” and to provide each incoming student with a “professional academic advisor and career coach,” according to the APEX at Ursinus webpage. The demands of the career world are increasing. Especially as AI technologies rapidly advance, Ursinus College is adapting to prepare students for the increasing pressures to harness these “competencies.”

In recent years, there has been talk of updating Myrin Library. With the newfound support of the APEX initiative, these renovations are coming to fruition. To learn more about the goals and logistics of the Myrin makeover, I spoke with Diane Skorina, the librarian and CIE chair, as well as Dr. Gundolf Graml, the Ursinus provost and vice president of academic affairs. Graml said, “When you think about the renovation, think about it as part of this campus-wide transformation of the student experience that we are working on under the title APEX.”

Part of the APEX initiative is to make academic and professional resources readily available in one central location. Currently, offices for student support – Office of Disabilities and Access, the Institute for Student Success, the Career Center – are all spread across campus. Therefore, the “long-term vision is that Myrin first floor starts to transform into this central place for student support,” said Skorina.

Graml agreed that “In this framework of creating a learning environment where there is a student-driven career exploration and thinking about the application of learning is present from day one, we’re also trying to think about how we can bring certain units, offices, support structures together in a way that as a student, you see them together physically.” The library has always been a hub for learning and research, but now the vision is to expand Myrin to encapsulate broader academic centers. Rather than students seeking out help, Myrin’s first floor will bring the help to students.

“The first step is actually setting up a home for the Bloomberg terminals,” Graml added. If you’re a business and economy major, your ears might’ve perked up, but I imagine many students, myself included, are unfamiliar with the concept of the Bloomberg Terminal.

“Bloomberg terminals [provide] access to all the data in the world, especially financial data and real time financial data. So, you might think, ‘Oh, that’s just for business and Econ students,’ but it’s open to the whole campus, so the reason we wanted it in the library is because that kind of data can be used for all sorts of things,” Skorina explained. Although Myrin library currently houses 12 Bloomberg subscriptions, located in the computer lab on the second floor, “We did not have a space yet to make it visible and so [the lounge] of the library will make that happen,” Graml said.

The hope is that by relocating the terminals to a more visible, flashier space, students from all majors will utilize the resource more. Graml believes it is especially important now for students to learn the skill sets offered by Bloomberg because “There are very few jobs nowadays that are not data-informed jobs, because everything is computerized.” However, students outside of the B & E major may be intimidated by this new technology. To make this technology accessible for all students, Skorina and Graml have a few ideas.

“I believe they will be hiring a student or two to be in the lab. They’ll be offering training sessions,” said Skorina. Upperclassmen also can sign up for “three-day workshops” at the start of the fall semester, according to Graml. One of the challenges of the Bloomberg Terminal will be making it known to students how this technology can be of use to them and training them how to interpret the data it offers.

The Bloomberg Terminal is the most imminent change to occur, but the renovations don’t stop there. APEX will have innovative hubs located on the first floor of Myrin. “What we envision is modern collaborative workspaces that allow for many different forms of collaboration, that have hookups for technology, laptops, whiteboards, [rooms] that allows for working together so that it’s soundproof but still visible [from outside],” Graml said. He believes that these spaces should be versatile and allow for the possibility of change.

As for the career centers, Graml spoke of potential technological changes that could impact how students prepare for interviews. He asked, “What kind of spaces are needed when students want to do a Zoom interview with a potential employer or need a computer station to practice an interview? With new AI technology, it [could] allow you to practice an interview with an AI agent.” The spaces on Myrin’s first floor “will be configured to allow for that to happen,” he said. The APEX hubs must be adaptable so the college can move with the times.

Skorina also had some potential ideas to make the library a more central and inviting space for students. She said, “My dream is that within the next couple of years, we would see a real entrance that faces the campus. So, you would come out of Wismer, and you would see the entrance.” This sort of visual change to the exterior of Myrin could give the library prominence on the campus, bringing in more students.

Skorina reassured us that the library will continue to have spaces that are safe and quiet for students to read and study. The second floor will remain a space for individual and group study, and the third floor will still be strictly quiet. “So that you don’t lose the essence of the library. That is being preserved, importantly,” she said. Despite the changes that are occurring, students can count on a place to withdraw from the hustle of the outside world, perhaps even read a book.