The $80 million, 270,000-square-foot academic building will be the largest facility on campus. It will house the University's nationally recognized College of Education and Human Services, including the ADP Center for Teacher Preparation and Learning Technologies. It also will contain more than 60 state-of-the-art classrooms, lecture halls and specialized laboratories as well as a technology hub and multi-media conference center.

The new facility will allow the University to more than double the number (to at least 600) of highly qualified, technologically literate and ethnically diverse teachers it produces each year; quadruple the number (to at least 8,000) of working teachers it reaches with continuing professional development; and increase by six-fold the number of school children (to at least 150,000) who will benefit from the activities of its various programs.

Montclair State currently educates the majority of the preschool teachers for New Jersey's high-need urban districts, and the technological capacity of the new building will allow the University to educate more of these teachers in remote sites across the state. Through the New Jersey Network for Educational Renewal, the University serves 23 local school districts throughout the state. The new academic building will provide a strong base for expanding those partnership efforts and increasing the technological capacity and expertise of all the University's education graduates.

The building is expected to be completed in the 2005-2006 academic year. The design parallels the University's Spanish mission style, with an interior courtyard and 120-foot bell tower, and four stories on one side and seven on the other. In addition to the ADP Center for Teacher Preparation and Learning Technologies, it will feature four 100-seat lecture halls, one 200-seat lecture hall, 41 general classrooms, more than 20 specialized learning labs, more than 150 faculty and staff offices, several student study lounges, the Center for Pedagogy, the Literacy Enrichment Center, and the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children. The seventh floor will house a conference center, complete with a ballroom, dining area and full-service kitchen.

The ADP Center, an innovative 61,000-square-foot facility that will serve as a lighthouse in the use of technology to enhance and improve teaching and learning in schools, is being funded by a $2 million gift from the ADP Foundation.

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8th) and other members of the New Jersey Congressional delegation were instrumental in securing over $1 million in federal funds for the Center's technology equipment. Among its technological offerings are:

The Instructional Technology Design Laboratory, where students, faculty and teachers will have hands-on experience designing and implementing digitally-enhanced lessons and curriculum units under the guidance of educational technology faculty members.

Three Classrooms of the Future that will provide living models of what a flexible, highly functional classroom should and can do. Electronic connections with working classrooms in Montclair's partner schools will allow students to participate in "virtual fieldwork," bridging the gap between theory and practice on a daily basis.

The Curriculum Resource Center, a repository for digital, print, audio and video teaching materials that will provide virtual access to resources via the Internet.

A Viewing and Editing Room to allow small groups to preview, edit, and analyze materials on which they are working in the laboratory.

The Teaching Laboratory, where the hands-on aspects of technology equipment will be taught. It will be available as a resource to teachers in schools that do not have adequate instructional technology.