I'm am trying to take a picture in the lobby of one of the buildings on campus. It has a very large glass front. My understanding is that the exposure settings have to stay the same throughout all the shots. However, if I do this, either the window is washed out (too bright) or the lobby is too dark. I have tried choosing an exposure in the middle and that just makes everything turn out bad. Is there another technique to take care of this kind of problem?

Yes there is - it's called "bracketing" and using a number of optional techniques. The flavour of the month is "Enfuse". Search for it on the forum or look for Jim Scott's excellent articles.

saltheart
I use Enfuse for my Virtual Photography and its great, but if I could use Photomatax's High Dynamic Range/Tone Mapping function with the camera & lens I have, I would.
 
I use a Coolpix 5400/FC-E9 combination that produces a >180° circular image with "black" filling the rest of the image frame around the circle.
 
Unfortunately, Photomatix's HDR/TM function uses the "black" when compositing my bracketed images. Their "Combine" tool doesn't use the "black" but does not produce as vivid and as sharp a composite.  
 
Enfuse does a better job with my Circular Fisheyes than the Combine tool, but Photomatix's HDR/TM tool is awesome for my still photos that fill the whole frame.
 
If you're using a fisheye lens that fills the whole image frame like a Nikkor 10.5mm or Sigma 10mm or a rectilinear lens like my Canon 10-22mm wide angle zoom or a basic 50mm, Photomatix is the way to go