With its recent expansion, the Rollins School of Public Health has become a desirable destination for people in and outside of Emory.
On any given day, Rollins hosts one or more special events, many of them in the 250-seat Rollins Auditorium and the Lawrence P. and Ann Estes Klamon Room, which offers a view of the Atlanta skyline from the top floor of CNR. Students and faculty heading to classes on the first floor pass by rotating exhibitions of poster art on mental health, obesity, and other public health topics. The Rollins Auditorium accommodates large classes and major events such as the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Awards, hosted alternately by the RSPH and Goizeuta Business School; the 50th anniversary celebration of the Peace Corps; and training sessions for new officers with the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service.
The Rollins Café in the GCR Building draws students, faculty, and staff from RSPH and along the Clifton Corridor. Groups from Emory and the Atlanta community hold events and meetings in the refurbished Rita Anne Rollins Room on the eighth floor of GCR.
Prior to the opening of the CNR Building, faculty, staff, and students were spread across nine locations. Now they are housed in one complex that includes expanded space and greatly enhanced IT capabilities for classrooms, administrative and faculty offices, laboratories, distance learning,admission and student services, and career services.
"We're much more of a community," says Dean Surbey, executive associate dean for administration and finance. "When the school was located in just one building, departments were siloed on different floors. Now people leave their offices for all kinds of reasons. They have to cross the bridge to teach, go to a lecture in the auditorium, or see people in other departments. Students have space of their own. They're everywhere."