World-Class Facilities

A campus that invites, facilities that deliver.

Prospective students make their college choice based on many factors — but a large percentage say it’s about a campus that just “feels right.” Our facilities, buildings, campus, and residence halls play a pivotal role in every applicant’s first real encounter with Grinnell; and investing in ideal environments ensures those encounters are positive and enduring.

Humanities and Social Studies Center.

What is more essential today than helping foster focus on humanities and social studies disciplines? This new center symbolizes Grinnell College’s commitment to creating opportunities for students and faculty to research, create, and explore across digital formats, through multidisciplinary team rooms, teaching labs, and departmental spaces. The Humanities and Social Studies Center (HSSC) is engineered for the highest energy savings and cost recovery and is home to the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE), the Data Analysis and Social Inquiry Lab (DASIL), the Reading and Writing Labs, and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CTLA). Academic neighborhoods that encourage collaboration among disciplines are hallmark expressions of what the HSSC represents. Full occupancy will be reached when Alumni Recitation Hall (ARH) and Carnegie Hall open, fully restored, in 2020.

Admission and Student Financial Services.

The first on-campus experience of most students visiting Grinnell involves a trip to the Admission and Student Financial Services (ASFS) building. This newly completed project provides a well-designed, highly effective visit space that offers comfort and intimacy with a distinctly collegiate feel. Prospective students and current Grinnellians alike benefit from the presentation spaces, workstations, and conference and interview rooms. The waiting room, complete with cozy fireplace and refreshment counter, provides visitors with a welcoming, relaxed environment and an impressive view of campus. Directly across from the HSSC and featuring an event lawn and covered walkway, the building sets the stage for an extraordinary level of engagement.

Landscaping.

More than just pretty flowers and a well-trimmed lawn, campus landscaping provides interesting, attractive learning spaces that offer opportunities for students to gather, engage, and interact. Developing such spaces and ensuring they complement Grinnell’s indoor learning spaces and provide attractive entry points to campus buildings are efforts that has resulted in several campus improvements to date. The plaza between the HSSC and Noyce Science Center is one of the most traversed areas of campus and is a focal point for meetings both planned and spontaneous. Updated campus entry points at Sixth and Eighth Avenues provide an alluring first impression to campus visitors. Learning spaces outside the HSSC provide crucial opportunities for faculty to engage students in new environments, and the strikingly landscaped scenery outside the ASFS provides a welcoming environment for prospective students and families visiting campus.

A campus to be proud of.

You’ve helped us create an inspiring campus — with more than 63 buildings ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to Bauhaus — and the 365-acre Conard Environmental Research Area with its distinct ecosystems and boundless bird species.

Keeping these facilities up to date and maintaining and incorporating newer technology is expensive. As we continue forward in our vision for the Grinnell Learning Place, creating a globally informed, interdisciplinary community, more modern facilities will be required. And that provides both an opportunity — and a need — for every Grinnellian to take ownership of a lasting legacy for future students.

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