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Nestled among giant oak trees on the corner of 52nd and Oak streets, in the center of Kansas City and at the center of the nation, is the home of the UMKC School of Law. Among the unique features of this building are office suites shared by faculty and students. The school continues to take great pride in its efforts to foster faculty-student interaction. One ongoing initiative involves assigning many second- and third-year students to offices located within suites that also house their professors' offices. This "intellectual migration" was designed to foster the exchange of ideas and more generally to promote collegiality between faculty and students. Additionally, lounges or conference rooms within the suites provide opportunities for both formal and informal meetings of students and faculty.
The school has more than 121,000 square feet of modern, usable space, including classrooms equipped with Internet-connected teaching workstations with audiovisual and video conferencing capabilities. The school has two courtrooms, the E.E. "Tom" Thompson Courtroom and the Arthur H. Stoup Courtroom. Both are equipped with audiovisual equipment used to augment the advocacy training program of the school. Auxiliary rooms allow for live trials and hearings of the many area courts and agencies in the courtrooms and a unique viewing theatre above the E.E. "Tom" Thompson Courtroom allows for real-time commentary on court proceedings. A spacious student commons area, including the Truman Terrace (a scenic outdoor courtyard filled with tables, benches and fountains) and a vending area, is located near classrooms. Offices for many student organizations are located near the student commons area as well.
Wireless Technology Environment The School has installed technology in the building which provides freedom from wired connections--enabling students, staff and faculty to access e-mail and multiple databases on the Internet of use to lawyers and law students using personal computers with wireless capability from offices, classrooms, study areas, the suites and the Leon E. Bloch Law Library.