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Well, the New Academic Street is going to really
open up level four of the city campus.
It will create new laneways, it will create open space,
it will create collaborative learning space,
and quite a significant amount of social space.
It will also enable students to move freely from
Building 80 across Swanston Street
into the New Academic Street developed area,
supporting that will be the development of areas
such as a new media precinct which will enable students
to work in all aspects of media in relation to RMIT.
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This project is not just about bricks and mortar;
it is a tangible investment in providing the best possible
experience for our students, now and into the future.
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We're very excited about the New Academic Street project
for our students.
Our students will be able to get far better infrastruture
from what they've had.
Some of the buildings are rather tired, they turn away from Swanston Street.
The New Academic Street project will make that far better.
The library space will be increased to 2000 spaces;
where currently, there's only 1000.
The new Student Hall will provide a one-stop shop to students
rather than them having to queue for long periods
in different locations.
And thirdly, far better access through to the city
and places for students to hang out
which our students say they greatly value.
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The incredible thing about the New Academic Street project
is that it will build these really powerful connections between
the city and the centre of the campus
'cause at the moment it's pretty much a barricade on Swanston Street
with the grey building.
So the project will really open up connections for students
to be able to get to the heart of the campus
and in doing so, you actually build the experience
for students that RMIT is like being part of the city
and a very urban experience.
The New Academic Street, it's a really innovative collaboration
between five different architectural design practices,
in fact, all of whom are RMIT alumni.
And the idea of that is that we get this sense of diversity in the architecture
so that that actually builds for students a sense of choice
and diverse experience as part of the idea of RMIT being a city-based campus.
So we've been working on the project now for three-and-a-half years
and now it's moving into the exciting phase which is the construction.
And it's going to be delivered in three phases -
by the start of 2016, there's going to be some great new student space
on the upper levels of the building
and then, after that, there's going to be two more phases
of delivering the project before the final project
is complete and available.
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We've had a number of initiatives that we've introduced to reduce
the disruption on both staff and students during the NAS Project.
We have established the NAS Project Management Office -
it's responsible for the overall change involved with NAS,
it's also responsible for the communications strategy to make sure
that staff and students feel that they're being communicated with
and know how the change is going to affect them directly.
We've also got a Rules of Engagement document;
it's designed to reduce the disruption during working hours.
We've also focused on the health and safety aspects of the project,
making sure that we've got increased resources
and processes for people to report incidents and hazards
making sure that we provide a safe environment for staff and students
during this change.
If you need any help or information at all
there's two great places to go to -
firstly, the NAS website
and secondly, call HR Assist directly.
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There's a lot of energy around the New Academic Street project.
We're really excited about the great new spaces to come;
the additional microwaves and power outlets;
retailers that will cater for a diverse range of dietary requirements and tastes;
we're also excited about the bar to come.
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I'm really excited about the New Academic Street project
because it creates a new environment for students at RMIT.
We'll be in a world-class facility that's going to provide
opportunities for students and staff to showcase what we do at RMIT
and it will create a learning environment
where students can really excel.
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