West Haven, Conn., September 22, 2009 — On Friday September 25, the University of New Haven (UNH) will host two momentous events which will serve as significant milestones in the burgeoning institution’s success.
Beginning at 11:15 a.m., students, faculty, staff and friends of UNH will dedicate the new $43 million, five-story, 402-bed Soundview Residence Hall that offers views of the Long Island Sound and the City of New Haven. Soundview is expected to receive a gold certification for Leadership in Energy Efficient Design (LEED), the nationally acknowledged benchmark for green building practices.
At noon, a groundbreaking ceremony will be held for the new 15,649 square-foot, $9.4 million Henry C. Lee Institute, which will include a Forensic Crisis Management Command Center, forensics and crime-scene technology learning center, and classrooms.
Soundview Hall, now fully occupied, consists of apartments with a combination of both doubles and singles. Soundview reflects the university’s commitment to sustainable architectural practices and artfully combines modern amenities with environmental awareness. Energy-efficient lighting, recycling rooms and a first floor exclusively devoted to sustainable living mark it as one of UNH’s most ambitious capital initiatives to date.
The facility was completed as UNH is continuing to experience record-breaking enrollment, with the largest freshman class in history arriving in late August. More than 5,200 students now attend the university.
The new Henry C. Lee Institute building, expected to be completed in fall 2010, will offer advanced forensic and crime-scene technologies not found at most police agencies across the country. Lee, his UNH colleagues, and national experts will utilize this new technology to train law-enforcement officers as well as students in how to solve difficult and complex crimes, as well as providing a resource for investigator’s to address crime-scene and forensic issues in real time.
The Forensic Learning Center will include class rooms, laboratories and virtual crime-scene training modules to train police, lawyers, investigators and students in new concepts and practices in forensic investigation and physical evidence. It also will include sophisticated crime-scene equipment such as ground-penetrating radar for locating buried bodies and evidence, a high-intensity laser for bullet-trajectory reconstruction, portable instrumentation for analysis of chemical and biological matter, and a teleforensic satellite internet system. The teleforensic satellite system will allow investigators to up-link via satellite to local, state and federal law enforcement, FEMA and other governmental agencies and then down-link time-sensitive information to a panel of forensic experts at the Forensic Learning Center and beyond. Experts such as crime-scene investigators, pathologists, psychologists, forensics engineers and computer-crime specialists will use the advanced technology and state-of-the-art equipment to assist in crime solving.
A leader in experiential education, the University of New Haven is experiencing a historic and nationally recognized surge in enrollment. Founded in 1920, the University provides its students with a unique combination of solid liberal arts and real-world, hands-on professional training. UNH is a private university with an 80-acre main campus. The University has an enrollment of more than 5,200; approximately 1,700 graduate students and more than 3,500 undergraduates, 70 percent of whom reside in University housing. The University offers more than 80 undergraduate degrees and more than 25 graduate degrees through its five colleges, in fields such as sports management, nutrition, forensic science, music and sound recording, engineering, computer science and criminal justice. University College at UNH develops programs and courses to meet the emerging educational and training needs of educators, businesses and public and social agencies, focusing on academic excellence, convenience and flexibility. University of New Haven students study abroad through a variety of distinctive programs.
To read the citations and remarks from a number of Connecticut dignitaries in honor of the Henry C. Lee Institute for Forensic Science building groundbreaking, click here .
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