Morrison University moving south

Morrison University, the century-old Reno business college, is gearing up to move into its brand-new facility in South Meadows.

The college, will relocate to a 14,000- square-foot facility at the Reno-Tahoe Tech Center at 10351 Professional Circle.

It had been located on Washington Street in downtown Reno since 1985.

Dr.

John Burruel, vice-president of academics at Morrison, noted the move is welcome.

The new center in its South Meadows location is more accessible than the former quaint downtown building for commuting students.

Students commuting from areas such as Carson City, meanwhile, will not have to fight the downtown traffic in order to get to class.

"It will be right off the freeway, so it will provide easy access for our students," Burruel said.

"Although the drive time is still mostly the same, it is all highway miles.

It opens up to all markets that wouldn't be as accessible before."

In addition, the new building provides ample parking space and security monitoring.

Also, the new building is on the city bus system with a stop just outside the center.

Being in the tech center, the college will be a neighbor to interactive businesses such as Redundant Networks.

Such businesses can provide guest speakers for classes and other service.

Another advantage of the new building is that its utilities can be customized to their needs.

For example, Morrison's computer system in its old facility had to be tailored to fit the building capabilities.

At the south Meadows location the situation is exactly the opposite.

There, the computer system is equipped with high-speed broadband.

Classrooms and furniture will be configured to accommodate a variety of class settings, and they can easily be transformed into a given situation such as from a lecture hall to a group discussion area.

"Depending on the activities, we can have breakout sessions or labs," Burruel said.