At the academic crossroads of campus adjacent to the Library, the G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons is Tech’s visible commitment to its undergraduate students. Clough Commons, which is open 24 hours a day (and virtually every day of the year), offers 220,000 square feet of classrooms, labs and learning spaces. The facility includes more than 2,000 seats in common areas, two large auditoria, classrooms, presentation rehearsal rooms and group study rooms that can be reserved for any day and time.

In addition, all first-year labs for biology, physics, chemistry, and planetary science are housed in Clough Commons. The variety of learning environments includes traditional and not-so-traditional classrooms, sunlit open seating areas, art exhibit space, Starbucks and a beautiful roof garden complete with trees and benches. Plus, the rooms can be reconfigured to suit a particular project or teaching style.

But Clough Commons is much more than aesthetics and technology. It is designed to be an active place where students get help with all things academic in a central location. Clough Commons houses many essential student services such as tutoring, communications support and academic advising. The Office of Information Technology provides computing and technology support for extended hours. The Library, which is physically connected to Clough Commons on two floors, provides research and general advising assistance.

Clough Commons is a LEED Platinum rated building with a green roof, solar panels and other sustainability features. As part of the Clough construction project, Tech installed a 1.4 million gallon cistern to improve water conservation for central campus. Tech Green and the walkways from the Library’s front door to the Student Center have been transformed into a welcoming green space complete with new sidewalks, lighting, and seating for all who pass by to enjoy.

Attached to the Clough Commons is the Georgia Tech Library which is open 24 hours almost every day of the week (closing at 6pm on Friday and Saturday evenings). Many take advantage of the Library’s outstanding research tools, electronic books and databases, and innovative computer resources. However, students may not be aware that they have a personal librarian at Georgia Tech! Subject librarians are paired with every student at Georgia Tech, and students can contact their subject expert for individualized assistance finding research to help finish those projects and papers successfully.

In addition, library faculty and staff also teach numerous “drop in” classes on a wide array of subjects including: writing literature reviews, data visualization, avoiding plagiarism, finding accurate data and statistics, multimedia software such as Photoshop and InDesign, and much more! These classes are free of charge and offered throughout the academic year. Students should also remember to take advantage of the Multimedia Studio, located on the ground floor of the Library. It features a number of computer stations outfitted with the latest software such as Adobe Creative Suite and more.

Library staff and faculty are available to assist Georgia Tech students in a variety of ways. For example, students can now easily set up an online chat session with library staff anytime of the day or night, email their question, call, or drop by the building and get one-on-one research help from a subject librarian. 

The Library and Clough Commons complex is the 24/7 academic crossroads of Georgia Tech’s campus. Students will undoubtedly utilize the many spaces for studying but we hope they will also engage with the many academic support services at the Clough Commons, as well as get to know their personal librarians at the Library.