Meet Me on MainStreet Celebration Launches New Architectural Tours

A new UC volunteer program takes an academic approach to preparing campus guides to talk about UC’s spectacular campus.

Date: 5/8/2006 12:00:00 AM
By: Jill Jansen
Phone: (513) 556-3026

Photos By: Dottie Stover

To schedule the special tours (for groups of four or more) after the MainStreet celebration, contact Jill Jansen, executive staff assistant for Governmental Relations and University Communications, at 513-556-3028.

Did you know:

That the final project completed as part of the University of Cincinnati’s MainStreet corridor has five different functions under one roof?
Or, that there’s a cistern that holds rainwater from the Campus Recreation Center that keeps Campus Green, well, green.
Or, that some of the major telephone trunk lines for western Cincinnati are on UC’s campus, located under the Campus Recreation Center?

A group of UC volunteers is getting a crash course on these UC facts and then some as they learn about UC’s extraordinary architecture, art and functionality. They’re finishing up a 10-week training program for UC’s new Campus Guide program and will conduct a sample tour before they achieve Campus Guide status. As part of the Meet Me on MainStreet Celebration, these new guides – ranging from an administrator to a librarian, from an architect to an alumnus – will begin tours at the steps of Tangeman University Center at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Friday, May 19, and at the top of each hour from noon-4 p.m. Saturday, May 20.

Mary Stagaman, associate vice president for Community Relations and Marketing, notes that UC’s nationally celebrated Master Plan is garnering even more attention with the completion of MainStreet, the student life-centered corridor through the heart of campus. “We’re getting more requests for customized tours of campus, focusing on the distinctive architecture, art and landscape. We want to be able to provide groups, on request, customized tours of our campus assets.” As the word was sent out for volunteers, Stagaman says potential candidates were encouraged to hold a strong interest in architecture, art, and the history and values of the University of Cincinnati.

Nancy Brinker, adjunct assistant instructor for the UC top-ranked College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, serves as program coordinator for the Campus Guide Program. She says lessons and tours focus on architecture, the public art located inside and outside of UC’s buildings and UC’s vast green spaces. “UC is one of the most architecturally diverse campuses in the nation,” she says.

“Nancy Brinker brings decades of public relations experience, along with an acute sensitivity for contemporary art and architecture to her role as program director. She has put together an intense, yet entertaining, series of classes for our campus guides,” Mary Stagaman says.

Tom Canepa

Campus Guide trainee Tom Canepa, UC assistant vice president of Admissions, says he joined the program because he was interested in how UC Admissions could beef up its own tours for prospective students and their parents. “Through this program, there are aspects I’ve learned about the university that I never would have imagined. Virtually every detail has been carefully thought through, from the alignment of buildings to the placement of trees to the function of spaces.”

Molly Mayer

Molly Mayer, UC associate professor of communication, says she got involved because she felt a transformation of energy with the transformation of the campus. “I noticed an entirely new energy on campus during fall quarter, and I think the excitement had a lot to do with the completion of MainStreet and the opening of the Campus Recreation Center, as well as the construction fences coming down.”

Mayer says the program held an amazing amount of learning material and says she was particularly interested in how UC’s open spaces were created to connect all of the buildings.

“This training could be considered for inclusion in the university’s academic curriculum, it is so filled with detail,” says Len Thomas, UC project manager for landscape design and construction, who has helped shape the campus guide program. “It has been a remarkable experience working with these individuals who are incredibly unselfish in terms of dedicating their time to promote the university.”

Volunteers for UC’s new Campus Guide Program are:

Barbara Brady, assistant director, UC Admissions
Tom Canepa, assistant vice president, UC Admissions
Marianne Cardas, training consultant/program manager, Organization Development & Training
Alexander Christoforidis, assistant professor, Professional Practice
Dawn High, senior graphic designer, University Relations
Brooke Hiltz, program coordinator and counselor, College of Law
Sharon Leigh, executive assistant, College of Law
Molly Mayer, associate professor, communication
Drew McKenzie, 2005 senior class president and UC alum, project manager for Global Cloud, Ltd.
Kristina Tabor, field service associate professor, communication
John Tebo, head, Chemistry-Biology Library
Deborah Weinstein, director of business affairs, Student Affairs & Services