History: College of the North Atlantic in Broadmoor

A partnership between the Broadmoor Development Corporation (BDC) and the College of the North Atlantic (COTNA) began inadvertently through an international connection with that Canadian college’s Global Design Studio (GDS). A successful engineering distance learning pilot program created in 2006 with the University of Gadjah Mada in Indonesia and Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in the United States, the studio grants students the opportunity to learn about architecture and building construction of architecture in their own and each other’s countries. And thanks to Broadmoor, the virtual was about to become reality.

When IUPUI’s Dr. Jan Cowan (formerly of CNA) met with the BDC's Executive Director, Hal Roark, in 2007, Dr. Cowan invited his CNA counterparts to join him to see if the college could assist Broadmoor's recovery. CNA engineering instructors decided they would bring a contingent of civil and architectural students to Broadmoor in the new year to assess the damage and explore possibilities. In March 2008 they approached the initiative with gusto – Architectural Engineering students designed a community center for the neighborhood and Civil Engineering students created plans for the neighborhood’s educational corridor, including a roundabout, to slow and calm traffic in that area.

That visit has since been followed up with another, and both parties are hoping to grow the relationship even further over the coming years. In fact, the work with Broadmoor is becoming a core part of the Global Design Studio, giving students real life scenarios to use for their final theses, and Broadmoor so far has at its disposal an engineering design for a round-about created by students (already presented to the New Orlean's city hall administrators for implementation). The opportunity here is invaluable. Not only do students have the chance to learn first-hand while they study, but they are also making a very real difference in the lives of people of New Orleans.