The University of Indianapolis’ Health Pavilion recently was recognized with the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce’s first People’s Choice Award. UIndy received this award at the Monumental Awards Dinner on Oct. 20.
For the first time, the Chamber of Commerce opened an award for members of the community to vote upon. Voting took place on the chamber’s Facebook page, which featured various architecture from around Indy from which voters could choose.
Along with winning the People’s Choice Award, the pavilion also was nominated for other categories of the annual Monumental Awards, such as architecture and real estate development. UIndy’s renovated Krannert Memorial Library also was nominated for awards including innovative reuse, interior design, architecture and construction. UIndy competed against buildings such as the YMCA, Schaefer Planetarium and Space Object Theater, Penn Place Apartments and many other establishments in the Indianapolis area.
Dean of the School of Psychological Sciences Anita Thomas said the new space has impacted the entire campus community in a positive way.
“There is innovation in the physical design,” Thomas said. “The openness of the building and the sense of the shared space and the architectural reflection of that really mirrors the second thing, which is sort of the openness and the coming together of all the Health Pavilion’s disciplines and the sort of shared space and the ability of us to connect. It’s also really unique, because it’s both the university and also the private sector space simultaneously. So having the rehab clinic as part of the university building is kind of unique.”
Thomas also said that the health and science departments have been able to intersect as never before since having this shared space. Specifically, her psychology and other social work students have the ability to come together to discuss the similarities in their fields.
“I think it really has created more open space and opportunity for us to come across and have conversations with different disciplines in a way we haven’t before,” she said. “So psych and social work have merged and come together. But being in the same place, we’ve been able to talk about similarities in our profession and our work, the clients and the differences in our work. But also, it has provided a lot of opportunities for people to collaborate on projects and to sort of share resources. So we’re building new courses; we’re building new certificate programs; we’re doing things that we probably would never be able to do without being in the same space.”
Freshman nursing major Lauren Metallic currently is enrolled in two classes in the Health Pavilion and also uses the pavilion for other activities such as study groups and lunch. So far, she said, she is impressed with the accommodations that the Health Pavilion has to offer.
“We go over there [the Health Pavilion] to study for anatomy,” Metallic said. “I also go over there to get food from The Perk…. And it’s [the building is] very technologically advanced, so that’s helpful in my classes. It overall makes the health majors and fields better, because we have better simulations and labs.”
Metallic also said that the pavilion made her much more drawn to UIndy when she was choosing which college to attend last fall.
“My other choice [for college] was Ball State,” she said. “And I went through their labs and through the Health Pavilion, and it was so much better here because it was so much more advanced and new.”
Both Thomas and Metallic agreed that the Health Pavilion gives UIndy students an edge over other students who may not have the advanced technology at their school that the pavilion has.
The innovations to this center have increased the productivity of many health and science majors and given many students a more enriched and hands-on learning experience, Thomas said. The student body is proud of the new renovations that were nominated, along with many other improvement and projects on campus, she said, and this contributed to the pavilion winning the People’s Choice Award.
“UIndy is such a family and a community and is so proud of itself. So I think that contributed a lot,” Thomas said. “They sent out, I think, two reminders to vote, and I was like, ‘Oh, everyone has already voted.’ Everyone is proud of the campus and proud of the community, and I think that contributed a lot to us getting out and being supported.”
